Sunghoon of Enhypen, a former figure skater, carried the Olympic torch for the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in Italy, set to open Friday, according to his agency Belift Lab.
The area near Milan’s Bolivar Station, where Sunghoon ran his segment of the torch relay, drew fans from around the world.
As Sunghoon began his run after receiving the flame, crowds moved with him along the route. He marched for about 20 minutes with residents and fans, smiling and waving, before passing the torch to the next runner.
Before debuting, Sunghoon was part of South Korea's national figure skating reserve team. He was a promising figure skater who placed in the junior division at the 2014 Korea Figure Skating Championships and competed in the ISU Junior Grand Prix.
After retiring from skating in 2019, he debuted the following year through Mnet’s audition program "I-Land."
“Coming to the Olympic stage was my first dream as an athlete. I chose a different path as an idol, but being here still feels like realizing that dream," Sunghoon told reporters after the torch relay.
Sunghoon became the second K-pop star to serve as an Olympic torchbearer, following Jin of BTS, who participated in the torch relay at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.
Since last year, Sunghoon has served as an ambassador for the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee. He was selected as a torchbearer for the Winter Olympics on the recommendation of Samsung Electronics, an official sponsor of the Games, according to industry sources.
The seven-member group's song “Shout Out" from its third mini album "Manifesto: Day 1" was selected as an official cheering anthem for Korea’s Olympic squad.
This year’s Winter Games will open with a ceremony at San Siro Stadium in Milan at 8 p.m. local time, or 4 a.m. Saturday in Korea. The Games run through Feb. 23, with about 3,500 athletes competing for 116 gold medals. A total of 130 members will represent Team Korea: 71 athletes across six sports and 59 officials.
cjh@heraldcorp.com
