At the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in Italy, South Korea's 17-year-old figure skater Shin Ji-a scored 68.80 points to place fourth in the women's short program of the team event. She displayed surprising composure in her Olympic debut, earning seven points for her team. South Korea currently ranks seventh, making medal contention unlikely.
At the Milano Ice Skating Arena during the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, South Korea's Shin Ji-a, 17, scored 68.80 points to finish fourth out of 10 skaters in the women's short program of the figure skating team event. This total included 37.93 points in technical element score (TES) for jumps, spins, and steps, and 30.87 points in program component score (PCS) for artistry and presentation. The score fell short of her season-best 74.47 from the September 2025 Nebelhorn Trophy but marked a solid Olympic debut.
Skating to Frederic Chopin's "Nocturne No. 20 in C-sharp minor," Shin opened with a clean triple lutz-triple toe loop combination and landed her double axel solidly, though she appeared wobbly on a later triple flip landing. Afterward, she reflected, "Honestly, I was really worried about just how nervous I'd be at the Olympics. But once I took the ice, I wasn't as jittery as I'd worried. And I was surprised with that myself."
The team event involves 10 nations across ice dance, pairs, and men's and women's singles, awarding points by placement from 10 for first down to one for tenth. South Korea's Hannah Lim and Quan Ye placed seventh in the rhythm dance with 70.55 points, earning four points. Without a pairs team, South Korea scores zero there, ruling out medals. After two segments, the team has 11 points and sits seventh, eight behind fifth-place Canada, while the U.S. leads with 25. Only the top five advance to free skates and dances.
Shin credited her teammates for support, saying, "Even during the warmup, my teammates gave me hearty cheers on every jump. They were really loud. I had so much fun in this team event." Cheered by Cha Jun-hwan and Lim-Quan, it was her first team competition. She added, "I think it will help me so much in my individual event next week... I liked the ice conditions here, and hopefully, I will be able to maintain this form."
Japan's Kaori Sakamoto, the 2022 Olympic bronze medalist and three-time world champion (2022-2024), led with 78.88 points, followed by U.S. 2025 world champion Alysa Lu at 74.90 and Italy's Lara Naki Gutmann at 71.62. The event continues Saturday with the men's short program and ice dance free dance, concluding Sunday with free skates in singles and pairs.
