Chea Song-joo dreams of PyeongChang
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Figure skater Chea Song-joo performs at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships at the Mokdong Ice Rink in Seoul on Feb. 15. / Yonhap
By Kwon Ji-youn
From afar, it was hard to tell whether a younger Kim Yu-na had made a surprise comeback to the ice or a brand-new skater was turning heads.
Chea Song-joo, just 17, impressed judges at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships (4CC) with a free skate score of 96.93, a personal best. With a short program score of 42.16, she wrapped up her first international competition in 13th place.
“It was nerve-racking, to be appearing at such an important international competition for the first time, and on home ice, no less,” Chea said in a recent interview. “But our Korean fans were there in the stands, cheering us on. After my free skate, I vaguely recall they cranked the cheering up a notch.”
Chea’s performance wasn’t completely free of errors ― after landing her triple toe-loop with poise, she staggered on her triple lutz and double axel. Nonetheless, she staged an act that had the media wondering when and where this new talent had sprouted.
“I’m comfortable with the triple lutz,” she said. “But my shoulders are slightly stooped, so I’m unable to use my full body when performing. That’s what I need to work on.”
Chea began taking skating lessons in fourth grade, when she and her brother visited the new ice rink in her neighborhood. Not long after, Chea was asked to be the flower girl at the Grand Prix final that took place at that very rink. Here, Kim Yu-na made an appearance, and upon seeing Kim perform, Chea became determined to follow in her footsteps.
“I agree when people say my body shape resembles that of Kim,” Chea said. “My arms and legs are long, so my gestures look big and my choreography looks that much more graceful.”
Chea remembers the 2014 Sochi Olympics, at which Kim failed in her bid to become only the third woman to repeat as Olympic champion, finishing second with 219.11 points after the free skate, 5.48 points behind Russian Adelina Sotnikova, who became her country’s first female champion ever.
Many had brought into question the fairness of the judging, arguing that Sotnikova’s points were dramatically inflated.
“I thought the results were unreasonable,” Chea recalled. “I don’t know who will be representing Korea at the 2018 PyeongChang Games, but I hope they will be given unbiased judgment.”
But Chea stressed that for figure skating to thrive enough for a Korean to medal in the three years’ time, there need be changes in the environment in which athletes today train.
“There are very few rinks in Korea, and more importantly, there isn’t yet a rink just for figure skaters,” she said. “It’s a sport that costs a lot, and the rinks that we are able to use are cold and the ice isn’t great.”
Even so, Chea’s training for the next few years will focus on hopes of representing the country in PyeongChang.
“My goal for now is to make the national team when the Olympics come to PyeongChang,” she said. “But my goal for PyeongChang, should I compete, is to medal.”
Her eyes are on skaters such as Russia’s Elena Radionova and Japan’s Higuchi Wakaba. Higuchi is the 2015 World Juniors bronze medalist and the 2014/15 Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medalist.
“But for now, more important is mimicking Kim’s audacity and boldness on the ice,” she said. “For that, I think it’s important that I appear in as many competitions as I can before PyeongChang.”