Five days after narrowly missing the podium in the men's singles event at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, South Korean figure skater Cha Jun-hwan revealed Wednesday he had performed on a bad ankle.
After a training session for his gala show at Milano Ice Skating Arena, Cha told reporters that he still had not decided if he would compete at the world championships next month in Prague.
"Actually, my body was not 100 percent," Cha said. "Over the past month, I'd been switching my skate boots quite a bit, trying to find the right pair, and that put a lot of strain on my right ankle."
Cha said he repeatedly had his ankle drained in the days leading up to the Olympics.
"I just wanted to make it through the Olympics," Cha added.
Prior to his third Olympics, Cha kept telling the media he had no physical issues whatsoever and his ankle problems were behind him.
"I decided not to talk about it for my own sake," Cha said. "And I kept telling myself I could skate through this kind of pain. But it feels like I have four different bones around my ankle. It's remained swollen the whole time."
Cha also said he had dealt with some flu before arriving in Milan. He took some vitamin C before boarding his flight and he felt fine through his competition.
"And once my free skate ended, I started feeling sick again," he said, with a warm cup of tea in his hand. "Fortunately, my conditions got worse after the free skate."
Even with these health issues, Cha finished in fourth place with 273.92 points overall -- the highest placement by a South Korean male figure skater at an Olympics. He ended just 0.98 point behind the bronze medalist, Shun Sato of Japan.
Cha said the near-miss still gnawed at him.
"It's not that I didn't get a medal. I feel disappointed that my score wasn't as high as I wanted it to be, considering the quality of performance I put on under the circumstances," he said. "I was hoping for a good score. I was upset with myself in that moment.
"But nothing changes the fact that I did my best," Cha continued. "I've accepted this result, knowing that I've finished my third Olympics relatively well."
The 24-year-old was noncommittal about competing at the 2030 Winter Olympics in the French Alps.
"Four years is a long time," he said. "After the 2022 Winter Olympics, I didn't immediately start thinking of Milan. Right now, I think I will need some time to regroup. It's difficult for figure skaters to enjoy a break. I will take my time to think about it." (Yonhap)
