⛸️ Seo Min-gyu's GP Bronze & a Miraculous Comeback: This Week in Figure Skating 🎉 - 2026.10.27 | Figure Skating

Hello, fans! 🙌 Today is packed with senior Grand Prix news. Let's start with Seo Min-gyu's debut!

🥉 Seo Min-gyu Wins Bronze in Senior GP Debut!

At the 2026-27 ISU Grand Prix 1st event, 'Grand Prix de France' in Angers, France, Seo Min-gyu finished third in men's singles with a total of 244.90 points ^[1]. His free skate score was 161.07 and his short program score was 83.83 ^[6]. France's Adam Siao Him Fa took gold with 284.24 points, and Japan's Kao Miura took silver with 247.96 points ^[2]. The gap between Seo and Miura was just 3.06 points! A little more polish could have meant silver 😮 ^[5]

His free skate was set to music from the film 'The Umbrellas of Cherbourg' 🎶 He started strong with a difficult jump in the opening, but later did not execute planned jumps cleanly, and he fell on his triple Axel ^[1]. He attempted a quadruple salchow but landed it as a double ^[3]. Still, what stood out most was how he stayed calm, continued his program steadily, and landed his other jumps cleanly. His spins and footwork were also stable ^[1]. Finishing third despite two mistakes means that if he sharpens his jumps, even bigger results could be within reach! 💪

Seo has already proven himself in junior competition: a gold at the 2024 World Junior Championships, back-to-back silver medals in 2025 and 2026, and the junior Grand Prix Final title last season ^[1]. That final title was a first for a Korean men's skater ^[3]. He started skating at age four, influenced by his mother, a figure skating coach ^[3] 🥹

Next month, from the 6th to the 8th, he will compete at the Grand Prix 3rd event in Shenzhen, China ^[1]. He is aiming to qualify for the Grand Prix Final, the season-ending championship ^[6]. Exciting, right? 😆

🔄 A Generational Shift and Cha Jun-hwan's Absence

Seo's performance is especially meaningful because of the generational shift in Korean men's figure skating. Cha Jun-hwan, who long led Korean men's singles, decided not to compete this season ^[1]. In an SNS post, Cha said, 'After much deliberation, I have decided not to continue national team activities and competitions this season' ^[1]. However, this announcement is about this season only and is not an official retirement 🤍 Earlier this month, he announced a temporary suspension of his skating activities and also revealed he would appear in a TV drama for the first time in 18 years ^[5].

🇩🇪 Eight Weeks After an 80% Ligament Tear: A Bronze Medal

There is also heartwarming news. German pair Annika Hocke and Robert Kunkel finished third in the pair event at the same Grand Prix 1st event with a total of 179.74 points ^[4]. That was 67.03 in the short program plus 112.71 in the free skate ^[4]. This medal is especially meaningful because Hocke suffered an 80% tear of the upper ankle ligament over the summer, a serious injury that could have ended her career 😢 ^[4] She was able to recover without surgery and returned much faster than expected, but she said she could not train for nearly eight weeks ^[4].

The pair left Bergamo, Italy, where they had trained for four years, and returned to their hometown of Berlin to prepare for the season with a new coach. Hocke said Berlin's excellent medical team greatly helped her rehabilitation ^[4]. The pair won bronze at the 2023 European Championships and gold at Skate America that same year. At the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, they finished 10th ^[4]. Overcoming adversity to win a medal at the season opener is truly remarkable 👏

🎬 Curious About the Season Structure?

If you want to understand how the figure skating season works, this video is a great pick! U.S. skater Amber Glenn explains the entire season, from early-season competitions and camps to the Grand Prix Series, U.S. Championships, and Worlds ^[7]. She also covers why points and rankings matter, what it takes to reach the Grand Prix Final, and where the Four Continents Championships and World Team Trophy fit in ^[7]. It is an excellent guide for anyone following this season for the first time 📚

This week was full of unforgettable moments on the ice. Let's cheer for Seo's next stage and for the skaters returning to the rink! 💙