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Good as gold: Kim Chae-yeon tops podium at Four Continents Figure Skating Championships

Published: 23 Feb. 2025, 16:50 Updated: 23 Feb. 2025, 17:43

PAIK JI-HWAN
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Kim Chae-yeon performs at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships at Mokdong Ice Rink in western Seoul on Feb. 23. [YONHAP]

Asian Winter Games gold medalist Kim Chae-yeon won another gold in the women’s singles contest at the 2025 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships at Mokdong Ice Rink in western Seoul on Sunday, adding another honor to her medal cabinet alongside silver medalist Cha Jun-hwan in the men’s contest.

Kim scored 74.02 points in the short program on Friday and added 148.36 points in free skating on Sunday for a combined score of 222.38 to top the podium, surpassing Bradie Tennell of the United States with 204.38 and Sarah Everhardt of the United States with 200.03.

Fellow Korean figure skater Lee Hae-in saw the second-highest finish in the women’s contest among Koreans by finishing in eighth place with 183.10, with countrywoman Yun Ah-sun coming in at No. 9 with 182.68.

For 18-year-old Kim, Sunday’s gold marks her best result in the Four Continents Championships, previously capturing one silver medal in the 2024 edition. The Four Continents gold also follows her gold at the Asian Winter Games on Feb. 13, which made her the second Korean female figure skater to top the podium in the Asiad singles event.

Kim has secured medals from every major competition but the Winter Olympics, as she also secured a bronze medal from the World Figure Skating Championships in 2024, where she became the third Korean to stand on the podium in the tournament after figure skating legend Kim Yuna and Lee.

Kim’s gold medal was also the second medal for Korean figure skaters in this year’s Four Continents Championships after a silver medal for Cha on Saturday.

Fellow Asian Winter Games gold medalist Cha captured a silver in the men’s contest, where the 23-year-old finished with a combined score of 265.02, falling behind gold medalist Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan with 285.1 points.

Cha Jun-hwan performs at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships at Mokdong Ice Rink in western Seoul on Feb. 22. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

His silver was his third medal at the Four Continents Championships after a gold in 2022 and bronze in 2024.

The Korean figure skating star has demonstrated his talent elsewhere, as he won a silver medal at the World Figure Skating Championships in March 2023 as the first Korean male figure skater to appear on the podium. He went on to win another silver at the World Team Trophy later that year.

Cha also represented Korea at the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics but has yet to medal at the Games. A medal at the 2026 Olympics in Italy would fill his career with medals from every major competition.

Cha can pursue his career uninterrupted thanks to his Asian Games gold medal, which granted him an exemption from the country's compulsory 18-month military service that would otherwise have forced him to halt his run on the international stage.

Both Cha and Kim can now turn their focus to their next challenge — the 2025 World Figure Skating Championships that will begin in Boston on March 25.

The upcoming world championships not only has coveted medals on the line, but will also determine the number of entries each country will be allotted in figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]