From pain to strength: Lee Hae-in returns to the ice with new presence, ready for Olympic stage

Lee Hae-in performs in the Gala Exhibition during the ISU Four Continents Championships 2026 at the National Indoor Stadium in Beijing, China, on Jan. 25. [EPA/YONHAP]

 
Figure skater Lee Hae-in has learned a hard truth at 21: Neither happiness nor misery lasts forever.
 
That understanding carried her back from the edge — and all the way to the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.
 

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“I realized I can’t live without figure skating,” Lee said. “There were moments when I hated myself. Now I’ve decided to love who I am, scars and all.” 
 
The change shows most clearly on the ice. This season, Lee chose Bizet’s “Carmen Suite No. 1” (c. 1882) for her free skate, a bold shift in tone. Her Carmen is not a tragic figure undone by fate. She is a fighter. She moves forward by choice.
 
The performance feels personal. Lee skates with the force of someone who knows what it means to lose everything — and refuse to surrender. 
 
Once hailed as the leading “post–Yuna Kim” hope, Lee made history in 2023 by winning the ISU Four Continents Championships and taking silver at the world championships. Her rise seemed inevitable.
 
Then, in May 2024, it stopped.
 
Allegations of sexual harassment surfaced during a training camp in Italy. What began as a misunderstanding, tied to a private relationship she tried to keep out of the spotlight, spiraled quickly. The Korea Skating Union handed her a three-year suspension.
 
Lee fought back. After more than a year of legal battles, she was cleared in May 2025. But the damage lingered.
 

Figure skater Lee Hae-in performs her short program at the Mokdong Ice Rink in Seoul’s Yangcheon District, western Seoul, on Jan. 3. [NEWS1]

 
The pain did not break her. It reshaped her.
 
At the national team trials earlier this month, Lee returned with a different presence. Her skating carried narrative weight, not just technical precision. Her lines were elegant but strong. Her face told a story of endurance. 
 
She earned her Olympic spot. 
 
That inner strength continues in her short program, “Seirenes.” Pearls stitched one by one onto the costume that portrays a siren shimmer like crystallized tears.  
 
Like the lyrics from the animated K-pop series “KPop Demon Hunters” (2025), she now sees “beauty in the broken glass.” The moment she stopped hiding her wounds and accepted them as part of the stage, her skating finally came fully into its own.
 

Lee Hae-in performs during the gala exhibition at the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Beijing, China, on Jan. 25. [YONHAP]

 
Lee’s gaze is now turning beyond herself, toward others. She has designed her own merchandise to thank her fans, donating the proceeds to an infant care home, building up emotional muscle along the way.  
 
Lee says she is already packing a gat (a traditional Korean hat) and a fan for an Olympic gala performance, and she has begun preparing a “KPop Demon Hunters” OST track as her prospective gala number, the same piece she first unveiled last October to widespread attention. The gala is a rare stage reserved for medalists and top finishers.
 
Like a star that finds its light only after passing through the darkest night, Lee’s skating, made clearer and more transparent by trial, is now aimed at a bigger world. In fashion capital Milan, with the hem of a black durumagi (traditional overcoat) fluttering, the stage she dreams of, imprinting Korean melodies made more beautiful by scars, will stand as a radiant story of resilience in its own right.


This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY PARK RIN, KIM HYO-KYOUNG [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]