Backed by teammates, family, ice dancers enjoy satisfying Olympic debut
Ice dancers Quan Ye, left, and Hannah Lim perform their rhythm dance program during the team event at the Winter Olympics at Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan, Friday. Yonhap
With their teammates and families cheering them on, Korean ice dancers Hannah Lim and Quan Ye put on what they described as a satisfying performance in their Olympic debut Friday.
Lim and Quan scored 70.55 points in the rhythm dance portion of the team event at Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan. The team event kicked off the figure skating competition of these Olympic Games in northern Italy.
Lim and Quan are in seventh place among 10 teams in action, with Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States on top with 91.06 points.
In the team event, duos and individual skaters earn points based on their placements in the ice dance, pairs, and the men's and women's singles. The top spot is worth 10 points, and second place is good for nine points, and so forth. Lim and Quan netted Korea four points.
"I am really satisfied with our performance today," Lim said. "I was really touched by the support of our teammates. This is very new, so much different from world championships. There was a lot of excitement in the air."
Lim said she thought of her mother just before the start of the rhythm dance, set to "Men in Black," "Pump Me Up" and "Gettin' Jiggy wit It" by Will Smith. Lim's mother and aunt were in the stands Friday, though Lim said with a smile: "I thought about where my mom would be, but I couldn't locate her. She texted me afterward, though."
Quan said his mother, who will be here next week for the individual event, sent him words of encouragement from afar Friday.
"Mama just said: 'Just have fun. Don't think about it too much and just live your dream.'" Quan added.
During the team competition, skaters not in action -- in Friday's case, singles skaters Cha Jun-hwan, Kim Hyun-gyeom and Lee Hae-in -- play the role of cheerleaders in the Kiss & Cry zone. Many, including the Koreans, choose to add levity to the competition by bringing props and donning costumes.
In the mixed zone, Lim was holding a bow headband with the Korean national flags on top, and Quan took a pair of toy sunglasses from his teammates.
Quan admitted to being "a little bit" nervous before the music started, but he kept trying to see his first Olympic moment "just like training."
"The first time in the Olympic stage, I felt like it was a completely different feeling than what we usually have," Quan said. "The crowd is more cheery. It's a lot bigger, and expectations are different, so it was really like a different experience. With my health, it was not that great, but overall, I think I'm pretty happy with what we did today. I'm like a kid again, watching the whole crowed cheering for us."
Quan battled a cold earlier in the week. Though he reported better health Friday, he had to frequently turn away from reporters to cough into his forearm during the media availability.
"It's just when I do my cardio, my throat starts hurting. But otherwise, I'm feeling great," Quan said. "I'm not really coughing outside of training. When I skated today, I didn't feel that. It's only afterward."