⛸️ Figure Skating Worlds Top 10 & Milan Heroes Take Over Variety Shows! 📺 - 2026.03.26 | 2026 Winter Sports Festival

Hello, fans! 👋 This is Milano Wonjeong-reo!

It's been almost a month since the Milan Olympics ended, but the hot news about our athletes continues! From the ice rinks and snowfields to variety show studios, let's dive right into the latest updates of our national team! 🚀

⛸️ Figure Skating Worlds: Lee Hae-in's Flight and Cha Jun-hwan's Unfortunate Pause

News from the 2026 ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Prague, Czech Republic! In the women's single short program, Lee Hae-in scored 68.50 points to place 10th ^[1]. Despite a slight under-rotation call on her first jump, she perfectly executed the rest of her performance, giving the green light for her 6th consecutive top 10 finish! Japanese media and fans are highly praising her, saying her performance was "grand and spectacular" and like a "beautiful Siren" ^[1]. Shin Ji-a, who also competed, is fighting hard in 13th place ^[1].

On the other hand, there is some sad news. Cha Jun-hwan, who placed 4th at the Milan Olympics last month, announced his withdrawal from the World Championships due to a worsening injury ^[2]. He shared his disappointment by posting a photo of his ankle covered in patches and taping on SNS ^[2]. Let's all cheer for him to rest well and return to the ice healthy! 🙏

📺 Milan Heroes Turn Variety Show Studios Upside Down!

Did everyone catch the Milan Olympic heroes special on 'Radio Star' that aired yesterday? 😆

Short track triple gold medalist Kim Gilli revealed that thanks to her nickname 'Lamborgilli', she actually received a Lamborghini ride upon returning home! It was so cute when she marveled at the exhaust sound of the 300 million won supercar, saying it "sounded like popping popcorn" when she started the engine ^[4]. She also mentioned receiving 30 million won in prize money as the Olympic MVP ^[4]!

Short track queen Choi Min-jeong shared that the relay gold medal in Milan was even more thrilling than in PyeongChang ^[3]. She also showed off her unexpected charm! She confessed that when she sat next to Chef Son Jong-won on another variety show, she was so nervous she couldn't even look at him ^[5]. She also proved her smarts by revealing that she maxed out her pension points back in 2017 and is investing her monthly pension in ETFs ^[6].

Snowboard silver medalist Kim Sang-kyum showed off his incredible lower body strength by easily doing 10 squats while holding the 184cm tall Kim Gura in a "princess carry" ^[7]. His variety show skills are definitely silver medal-worthy too! 🥈

🏂 Rulers of the Snow: Unstoppable Momentum

Choi Ga-on, who brought Korea its first gold medal in the snowboard halfpipe at the Milan Olympics, solidified her position as the absolute best by becoming the 2025-26 season champion ^[8]. She recently appeared on ELLE Korea's YouTube channel to unbox her glorious Olympic gold medal and personally introduce her favorite snowboard gear ^[10].

To maintain the immense success our snowboard team achieved in Milan, a meaningful public discussion was held about preserving the Jeongseon Alpine Centre as an exclusive training facility for the national team .

Lastly, I'll share the news that Mikaela Shiffrin of the US, the gold medalist in the alpine skiing slalom at the Milan Olympics, secured her 6th overall World Cup title at the FIS Alpine World Cup, tying the women's all-time record ^[9].

I'll be back next week packed with more exciting winter sports news, so look forward to it! ❄️