Haein Lee: “I’ve waited eight years for the Olympics, so I’m really happy to finally compete. I want to skate with no regrets and stay healthy and focused on what comes after the Olympics.”
Haein Lee finished fifth in the women’s singles at the Four Continents Championships, reflecting on her performance, lessons learned, and her mindset as she prepares for her Olympic debut in Milan-Cortina.
original source: mfocus.kr dd. 23d January 2026 by Kim Hyun-jin
Haein Lee scored 125.60 points in the free skating, and with her earlier short program score of 67.06, finished with a total of 192.66. Here’s a translation of her comments posted on MFocus.
Meeting with reporters in the mixed zone, Lee said, “Before the six-minute warm-up, I saw Jia (Shin) and Ahsun (Yun) in the audience, and I was so happy. Jia, Ahsun, and the crowd gave me a lot of energy. Yesterday, I was really nervous thinking about last year’s Four Continents, but today I wasn’t as nervous and was able to enjoy skating more.”
When asked about regrets from the performance, she said, “I rarely made mistakes on the first lutz in practice, so I was really surprised when it became a double jump. Still, the next part was my favorite, so I focused on that.” As for what went well, she pointed to her successful triple loop: “My triple loop wasn’t good at Nationals or the Ranking Competition. At Nationals, I only did a single loop, so I was really happy to finally land a triple loop here.” She added that right after her ending pose, she exclaimed, “I did the loop!”
Asked about lessons learned from this event, Lee said, “It’s been a year since I competed at a big event like an ISU Championships, so I was really nervous. I still don’t know why I get so nervous in the short program, even though it’s the same competition. But through this event, I realized it’s all about mindset. With so much support, I learned to focus on that, and that no matter how well I practice, the future is uncertain, so I should clear my mind and do what I can, one step at a time.”
Lee will compete at the 2026 Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics in Italy next month. When asked if the Four Continents helped her prepare for the Olympics, she replied, “I think I need to learn how to overcome nerves, so competing here after Nationals will help me perform better at the Olympics.”
Regarding her Olympic preparations, she said, “The Olympics is such a big stage that I’ll probably feel overwhelmed, but I still have to do my job. I want to use the remaining time well to figure out how to deliver a better performance than I did here.” She added, “Coach Misha Ge told me, ‘Your body and mind need to be in the present. If your mind is in the past and your body in the future, you can’t focus on the present.’ Just like I’m focusing on this interview now, if I practice focusing on the present, I think I’ll be able to handle the nerves at the Olympics step by step.”
Technically, Lee wants to fix the mistake of turning triple jumps into doubles before the Olympics. “I keep doubling jumps, which I shouldn’t, and I think it’s frustrating for people to watch. I need to think more deeply about that and find the right solution. I changed my layout a lot to land the loop jump, but I think I finally found the right line for me. I’ll probably keep this layout for the Olympics, and I want to show my best performance of the season there.”
Lee said, “I’ve waited eight years for the Olympics, so I’m really happy to finally compete. I want to skate with no regrets and stay healthy and focused on what comes after the Olympics.” She also expressed excitement about competing alongside other Korean athletes: “I met the ice dance skaters today, and they congratulated me and cheered me on. Even though we’re all competitors, we support each other, and I think we’ll be able to rely on each other at the Olympics.”
Related topics: Four Continents Championships, Haein Lee, Olympic Games
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