Figure skating, considered one of the most beautiful sports, forces a life like a monk. Diet control for weight management is basic, and training on ice in hard skate boots accompanies foot pain. However, Lee Hae-in (18, Sehwa Girls’ High School), the national figure skating female singles national team member who won the silver medal alongside Cha Jun-hwan (Korea University) in the singles event at the World Figure Skating Championships held in Japan last month, showed the bright side of a high school girl like her peers.
Lee Hae-in, who met at the office of her agency, All That Sports, started the interview laughing out loud when the reporter congratulated her on her silver medal. When asked if she felt sorry for not being able to reach the gold medal, she opened her eyes wide and said in her voice, “Where did she come in second? raised He continued, “I continued to perform sluggishly in the Grand Prix competitions at the beginning of the season, and I even thought that there was no hope. I tried my best to work hard at the four continents and the World Championships, but fortunately it went well.” Lee Hae-in, who won the gold medal at the Four Continents event, succeeded in showing off her clean performance again after telling herself, “Let’s do it like the Four Continents” at her last World Championships.
She is still bewildered at the world championship medal she obtained in 10 years since Kim Yu-na. Lee Hae-in shyly confessed, “After returning to Korea, she went to the mart with her friend, and she met a person who recognized me and asked to take a picture with me. I hope that one day I will become popular like Jun-hwan oppa.”
It is a medal obtained after going through hardships for a while, so the joy is even greater. Lee Hae-in, who first wore skates as a weekend hobby class in the first grade of elementary school, was an outstanding player by winning two consecutive junior Grand Prix championships, but suffered growing pains after entering the senior stage. In 2019, he suffered from a water-filled injury to his peach bone, and it was especially painful to miss the Olympic tickets given to the top two athletes because he could not overcome his physical condition ahead of the last Beijing Winter Olympics.
Regarding this, Lee Hae-in showed a dignified appearance, saying, “I felt happy again because I knew that my sisters worked hard.” On the contrary, some confessed that such competitions became the driving force for their own development. Lee Hae-in said, “For me, not only (Kim) Yuna, but also (Lim) Eun-soo, (Kim) Ye-rim, and (Yoo)-young unnies are all older sisters who I’ve been watching since I was young. There are a lot of things I want to learn, such as the mindset to control and the speed of Young.”
I wondered if it would have been a pity to miss out on the fun of school days because I was focusing on skating, but it seems that there is nothing wrong with him who is full of affinity. “When I go to the ice rink, the time is divided according to the venue, and it feels like a school bell. 안전놀이터
Lee Hae-in, who is good at drawing and has no hesitation in using foreign languages, enjoys conversing with foreign players. Lee Hae-in said, “I’m close with Ilya Malinin, Kaori Sakamoto, and Mai Mihara, and I loved it very much when I drew a picture and gave it as a gift.” Lee Hae-in’s dream is to enjoy figure skating for a long time, just like now. Lee Hae-in said, “I want to go to the Olympics, but I want to focus on the competitions in front of me.”