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⛸️ Prague World Championships Wrap-up & Figure Prince Cha Jun-hwan's New Challenge! - 2026.04.05
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April 5, 2026

⛸️ Prague World Championships Wrap-up & Figure Prince Cha Jun-hwan's New Challenge! - 2026.04.05

Hello, figure skating fans! 😆 This week was full of dynamic news both on and off the ice. The 2026 ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, which took place last month, has come to a close, and we also heard some surprising news about our skaters. Let's dive right in! ⛸️❄️

🏆 2026 Prague World Championships, A Brilliant Finale!

Our skaters' performances at this World Championships were truly amazing! First, 18-year-old rising star Shin Ji-a, making her senior World Championship debut, delivered a wonderful free skate to finish in 8th place overall [5]. She was 13th in the short program, but soared beautifully to the melody of 'Liebestraum' in the free skate. She earned bonus points on her triple lutz-triple toe loop combination and executed her step sequence and spins at the highest level, scoring 136.65 points in the free skate for a total of 201.89 points [5]. It's so proud to see her calmly make up for her jump mistakes and successfully enter the 'Top 10'!

Lee Hae-in, who competed alongside her, unfortunately made jump mistakes and scored a total of 185.18 points, finishing in 13th place [5]. Although she narrowly missed her 6th consecutive 'Top 10' finish, thanks to the performances of Shin Ji-a and Lee Hae-in, Korea securely obtained 2 spots for the women's singles at next year's World Championships [5]! 👏

The ice dance duo Hannah Lim and Ye Quan also showed a great performance. After unfortunately failing to advance to the free dance at the Milano-Cortina Olympics in February, they scored 108.99 points in the free dance at this competition, finishing 15th overall with a total of 178.82 points [2]. They executed their rotational lift and curve lift at level 4, delivering a clean performance. Let's give a round of applause to these two who continue to show their skills on the world stage, following their 14th place in 2024 and 18th place last year! [2].

We can't leave out the performances of international skaters, right? In the men's singles, the 'God of Quads' Ilia Malinin achieved an overwhelming 3-peat at the championships, showcasing a whopping five quadruple jumps and a backflip in his free skate for a total score of 329.40 points [2]. It was a performance that perfectly shook off his regrets from the Olympics. In the women's singles, Japan's Kaori Sakamoto won the title with a flawless performance, but announced her retirement after this competition, bidding a tearful farewell [5]. She leaves the ice gloriously, leaving behind an incredible record of becoming a World Champion four or more times for the first time in 23 years since Michelle Kwan [5].

✨ Our Skaters Shining Off the Ice

There was also welcome news off the ice! First is the surprising news that 'Figure Prince' Cha Jun-hwan has signed an exclusive contract with the comprehensive entertainment agency Fantagio [1]. Cha Jun-hwan, who has been showing overwhelming skills such as a gold medal at the 2025 Harbin Asian Winter Games and 4th place at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics in February, plans to expand his activities as an entertainer in the future [1]. Having proven his extraordinary star quality as a child actor, in variety shows, and as an advertising model, aren't you looking forward to seeing what diverse charms he will show as a 'sportainer' with the full support of his agency [1]? 😎

And Lee Hae-in showed incredible ticket power as the pre-registration for her fan meeting held today (April 5th) sold out in just 20 seconds [3]. At this fan meeting, limited to 40 people, Lee Hae-in will personally make coffee for the fans, and all proceeds will be donated to an orphanage [3]. Isn't she an absolute angel? 😇 Moreover, after the World Championships, she posted a friendly two-shot taken with Ilia Malinin at the awards ceremony on social media, drawing passionate attention from fans at home and abroad [4]. Both skaters wore black outfits and used black heart emojis to create a comfortable atmosphere, and it was such a hot topic that even Japanese media highlighted the photo [4].

That's all the news we prepared for this week! I hope all our skaters who safely finished the big stage of the World Championships get some good rest and time to recharge. I'll be back next week with more vivid emotions and interesting news from figure skating. Everyone, be careful of catching a cold during the changing seasons, and have a happy week! 💖

📰 Reference News (4)

1

[Official] Cha Jun-hwan joins hands with Cha Eun-woo... Signs exclusive contract with Fantagio

네이버뉴스 · 2026.04.04

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2

피겨 아이스댄스 임해나-권예, 세계선수권 15위…말리닌 남자 싱글 3연패

네이버뉴스 · 2026.03.29

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3

피겨스케이팅 이해인, 팬미팅 사전 접수 20초 만에 마감

네이버뉴스 · 2026.03.31

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4

'하트 2개 팡팡' 이해인, '4회전 신' 세계 챔피언과 스캔들 '일본'도 주목…"의미 있는 투샷"→"정말 멋져보여"

네이버뉴스 · 2026.03.31

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📺 Reference Videos (5)

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