Lee June-hyoung (; born October 28, 1996) is a South Korean former competitive figure skater. He is the 2014 JGP France champion and a three-time South Korean national champion (2013, 2015, 2016). He is the first South Korean male figure skater who stood on the podium and won gold at ISU events. Also, he is the first Korean male skater to qualify for the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final.
Personal life Lee June-hyoung was born in Seoul, South Korea. His mother, Oh Ji Youn, is a figure skating coach.
Career
Early years Lee was coached by his mother from the age of seven to 14. He started working with Chi Hyun-jung as his coach in 2010. Lee placed 3rd at both the Korean Junior Grand Prix qualification trials and the Korean Nationals.
2011–2012 season The 2011–2012 season was Lee's breakthout season. He included five different triple jumps in his program and improved jump consistency. In August, he was selected to represent Team Korea by placing second at the Korean Junior Grand Prix qualification trials. At the Asian Trophy, he took silver in the junior category.
Making his Junior Grand Prix (JGP) debut, Lee placed 4th at the 2011 JGP event in Latvia. At his second assignment, in Milan, Italy, he won bronze and became the first South Korean male figure skater to medal at an ISU event. He won the Korean Ranking competition in November and placed 4th at the Winter Youth Olympics. He placed 18th at the World Junior Championships.
2012–2013 season Lee started his season with a new free program, "Queen medley", but returned to his previous season's free program, "The Barber of Seville", at his first Junior Grand Prix event. He won South Korean Nationals, but could not compete at the senior World Championships because he did not meet the minimum technical score requirement for the event. He placed 13th at the World Junior Championships. In February, he landed a triple Axel jump during the short program segment at the Four Continents Championships.
2013–2014 season In the middle of the season, he changed his free skating from "The Planets" to "The Phantom of the Opera", which was shown at the Korean Nationals. At the nationals, with total score of 206.88, Lee became the first Korean male skater who scored over 200 points in domestic competitions. In February, he placed 14th at the 2013 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Taipei. In March, he placed 16th at the World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.
2014–2015 season Competing in the 2014–15 JGP series, Lee won gold at his first event, JGP France, with overall score of 203.81. This accomplishment made him the first South Korean male figure skater to win an ISU event. By obtaining bronze at JGP Croatia, he became the first Korean male skater to qualify for an ISU Junior Grand Prix Final. In December, at the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final in Barcelona, Spain, he placed fifth in the short program and sixth in the free skating to place sixth place overall.
In January, Lee beat his rival, Kim Jin-seo, to win his second national title. He was nominated to the South Korean team for the 2015 Four Continents Championship. At the competition, he placed fifteenth in the short program and nineteenth in the free skate to place eighteenth overall. He placed 19th at the 2015 World Championships.
2015–2016 season During the summer, Lee was involved in a traffic accident as a passenger. A car driven by his mother was struck from behind by another car. After this incident, Lee started having back problems.
Lee opened the 2015–16 figure skating season by placing 10th at the 2015 Finlandia Trophy. He participated in the 2015 Skate Canada International with his new coach Shin Hea-Sook and placed 12th.
During the later half of the season, he placed sixteenth at the 2016 Four Continents Championship and placed 24th at the 2016 World Championships.
2016–2017 season Lee was still troubled by injuries during this season. He finished 16th at the 2017 Winter Universiade in Almaty, 18th at the 2017 Four Continents Championship in Gangneung, and 13th at the 2017 Asian Winter Games in Sapporo.
2017–2018 season Lee started his international season by placing 7th at the Philadelphia Summer International. He placed 5th at the 2017 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, qualifying a ticket for South Korea in the men's singles category for the 2018 Winter Olympics, with a new set of personal best results.
Retirement Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Lee could not participate in skating events during the 2020–2021 season. At the end of the season, he started a new career in musical theatre.
Programs Season Short program Free skating Exhibition 2019–2020 I Put a Spell on You The Artist 2018–2019 Eternally Piano Concerto No. 2 - 3rd Movement 2017–2018 Bohemian Rhapsody Rinascero
El Norte
Uptown Funk
Exogenesis: Symphony Part 3
It's Me (Pick Me) 2016–2017 Tosca Moulin Rouge! 2015–2016 Exogenesis: Symphony Part 3 Romeo + Juliet O Verona Escape from Mantua Balcony Scene 눈 먼 사랑 (Blind Love)
Uptown Funk 2014–2015 The Wild Party The Phantom of the Opera Michael Jackson medley 2013–2014 Para Tí The Phantom of the Opera
The Planets, Op. 32 2012–2013 Capone The Barber of Seville
Who Wants to Live Forever Bohemian Rhapsody We Will Rock You 2011–2012 Jelly and the Vamp The Barber of Seville Hard to Handle 2010–2011 Sing, Sing, Sing Don Juan 2009–2010 Love Story Harbinger 2008–2009 The Mission Adiós Nonino
Competitive highlights GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix
2011–2012 to present International Event 11–12 12–13 13–14 14–15 15–16 16–17 17–18 18–19 19–20 Worlds 19th 24th Four Continents 17th 14th 18th 16th 18th 14th 14th 17th NHK Trophy 9th Skate Canada 12th Finlandia 10th Lombardia 11th Nebelhorn 5th Ondrej Nepela 8th Warsaw Cup 3rd Asian Games 13th Asian Trophy 3rd 3rd 3rd 4th Denis Ten Memorial 7th Philadelphia 7th Shanghai Trophy 6th Triglav Trophy 5th 2nd Universiade 16th 13th International: Junior Junior Worlds 18th 13th 16th Youth Olympics 4th Final 6th Belarus 5th Croatia 3rd France 1st Italy 3rd Latvia 4th Mexico 6th Turkey 9th U.S. 5th Asian Trophy 2nd National South Korea 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 1st 5th 3rd 2nd 3rd TBD = Assigned, WD = Withdrew J = Junior level
2006–2007 to 2010–2011: Pre-international debut National Event 07–08 08–09 09–10 10–11 South Korean Champ. 1st N 1st N 2nd J 1st J 3rd Levels: N = Novice; J = Junior
Detailed results
Senior level 2019–20 season Date Event SP FS Total February 4 – 9, 2020 2020 Four Continents Championships 14 72.74 17 126.21 17 198.95 4–5 January 2020 2020 South Korean Championships 2 82.70 3 143.82 3 226.52 14–17 November 2019 2019 CS Warsaw Cup 8 66.03 2 139.17 3 205.20 9–12 October 2019 2019 Denis Ten Memorial Challenge 8 61.58 7 124.57 7 186.15 3–5 October 2019 2019 Shanghai Trophy 6 67.34 6 122.17 6 189.51 19–21 September 2019 2019 CS Ondrej Nepela Memorial 9 59.49 8 119.75 8 172.24 2018–19 season Date Event SP FS Total March 6–9, 2019 2019 Winter Universiade 13 60.68 12 126.57 13 187.25 February 7–10, 2019 2019 Four Continents Championships 16 64.19 14 123.91 14 188.10 January 11–13, 2018 2019 South Korean Championships 3 64.41 2 129.92 2 194.33 November 9–11, 2018 2018 NHK Trophy 11 66.16 9 122.10 9 188.26 September 12–16, 2018 2018 CS Lombardia Trophy 8 68.54 12 107.99 11 176.53 2017–18 season Date Event SP FS Total January 22–28, 2018 2018 Four Continents Championships 16 69.93 13 141.93 14 211.86 January 5–7, 2018 2018 South Korean Championships 2 76.80 3 146.18 3 222.98 September 27–30, 2017 2017 CS Nebelhorn Trophy 4 74.37 4 148.52 5 222.89 August 3–5, 2017 2017 Philadelphia Summer International 6 71.92 8 127.46 7 199.38 2016–17 season Date Event SP FS Total February 23–26, 2017 2017 Asian Winter Games 13 57.67 11 126.76 13 184.43 February 15–19, 2017 2017 Four Continents Championships 16 67.55 18 120.03 18 187.58 February 1–5, 2017 2017 Winter Universiade 16 65.08 16 117.45 16 182.53 January 6–8, 20172017 South Korean Championships 3 64.19 6 114.37 5 178.56 September 28–October 2, 2016 2016 CS Ondrej Nepela Memorial 10 58.26 WD August 4–7, 2016 2016 Asian Open Trophy 4 61.08 4 122.51 4 183.59 2015–16 season Date Event SP FS Total March 23–29, 2016 2016 World Championships 18 70.05 24 104.83 24 174.88 February 16–21, 2016 2016 Four Continents Championships 10 67.35 19 113.57 16 180.92 January 8–10, 2016 2016 South Korean Championships 1 75.10 1 148.62 1 223.72 October 30–November 1, 2015 2015 Skate Canada International 12 47.19 12 104.86 12 152.05 October 8–11, 2015 2015 CS Finlandia Trophy 11 57.07 10 115.90 10 172.92 2014–15 season Date Event SP FS Total April 15–19, 2015 2015 Triglav Trophy 2 59.60 2 117.00 2 176.60 March 23–29, 2015 2015 World Championships 24 64.51 18 133.01 19 197.52 February 9–15, 2015 2015 Four Continents Championships 15 63.35 19 116.71 18 180.06 January 5–9, 2015 2015 South Korean Championships 2 68.75 1 141.15 1 209.90 August 8–10, 2014 2014 Asian Open Trophy 3 66.67 2 140.12 3 206.79
Junior level
2014–15 season Date Event Level SP FS Total December 11–14, 2014 2014–15 JGP Final Junior 5 57.42 6 122.97 6 180.39 October 9–11, 2014 2014 JGP Croatia Junior 3 68.52 3 135.40 3 203.92 September 4–7, 2014 2014 JGP France Junior 1 67.88 1 135.93 1 203.81 2013–14 season Date Event Level SP FS Total March 12–14, 2014 2014 World Junior Championships Junior 18 58.11 15 111.89 16 170.00 January 22–25, 2014 2014 Four Continents Championships Senior 19 57.65 12 126.49 14 184.14 January 3–5, 2014 2014 South Korean Championships Senior 4 67.30 1 139.58 2 206.88 September 25–28, 2013 2013 JGP Belarus Junior 5 60.51 5 113.90 5 174.41 September 4–7, 2013 2013 JGP Mexico Junior 5 62.27 6 108.12 6 170.39 August 8–11, 2013 2013 Asian Open Trophy Senior 3 60.65 3 118.31 3 178.96 2012–13 season Date Event Level SP FS Total Feb. 25 – Mar. 3, 2013 2013 World Junior Championships Junior 13 54.15 13 112.06 13 166.21 February 8–11, 2013 2013 Four Continents Championships Senior 18 55.63 16 120.76 17 176.39 January 4–6, 2013 2013 South Korean Championships Senior 1 60.80 1 122.88 1 183.68 September 19–22, 2012 2012 JGP Turkey Junior 11 44.04 8 102.05 9 146.09 Aug. 29 – Sep. 2, 2012 2012 JGP USA Junior 5 53.38 5 103.07 5 156.45 August 8–12, 2012 2012 Asian Open Trophy Senior 2 51.04 3 92.16 3 143.20 2011–12 season Date Event Level SP FS Total Feb. 27 – Mar. 3, 2012 2012 World Junior Championships Junior 15 55.74 18 103.19 18 158.93 January 14–22, 2012 2012 Winter Youth Olympics Junior 7 50.93 4 110.06 4 160.99 January 7–8, 2012 2012 South Korean Championships Senior 2 59.89 2 120.94 2 180.83 October 5–8, 2011 2011 JGP Italy Junior 4 57.98 4 118.50 3 176.48 Aug. 31 – Sep. 3, 2011 2011 JGP Latvia Junior 3 58.06 5 113.69 4 171.75 August 23–25, 2011 2011 Asian Open Trophy Junior 3 51.23 3 108.63 2 159.86 2010–11 season Date Event Level SP FS Total January 14–16, 2011 2011 South Korean Championships Senior 3 52.13 3 107.15 3 159.28
2009–10 season Date Event Level SP FS Total January 9–10, 2010 2010 South Korean Championships Junior 2 36.94 1 73.94 1 110.88 2008–09 season Date Event Level SP FS Total January 9–10, 2009 2009 South Korean Championships Junior 3 38.75 2 79.26 2 117.56
ISU personal bests highlighted in Bold.
References
External links