Slovak figure skater Adam Hagara became the first soloist in the era of independence to make it to the final free skates at the Winter Olympics. In Tuesday's men's short program in Milan, he took 20th place with a score of 80.30 points and easily secured a place in the top twenty-four.
Hagara is only the second Slovak representative to compete in the men's category at the Olympics. In Nagano 1998, Róbert Kažimír did not advance to the free skates, having taken 26th place.
In his debut under the five rings, the nineteen-year-old Hagara returned to an older short program to the song Another Love by British singer Tom Odell. This move ultimately paid off for him, as he skated a season's best and fell only 0.6 points short of his overall short program record. In the Forum di Milano hall, he performed a quadruple toe-up, then flawlessly mastered a triple Axel and a triple Lutz-triple toe-up combination.
Hagar's ride was relaxed, the Slovak representative seemed confident: "I tried to be relaxed. It is always important to come to the ride in good shape, even if I am sometimes under a lot of stress and especially today, when I saw the scores of others. I knew it would be difficult, but it gradually improved. I mainly tried to come to the ride with a good feeling, enjoy the feeling of the Olympic audience and give the best performance possible, because that is what I am here for."
The free skate is scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m.
The other big news for Slovakia at the Olympics was the return to the slopes of skier Petra Vlhova.
She returned to the competitive circuit after two demanding years and once again experienced the feeling of standing on the slope at the highest level. Although she did not finish Tuesday's team competition, she was not too disappointed after the race, the important thing was that she was racing again.
The thirty-year-old Slovak competed in the start of the second part of the combination, her dominant discipline of slalom. On the course in Cortina d'Ampezzo, she did not manage all 59 gates, caught a spike halfway through the course and managed to glide to the finish.
“The emotions are really great, because being back in racing after two years is really something amazing. I'm really looking forward to it, even though it didn't go the best way. But today it wasn't about the result, but about getting back into the racing rhythm and trying out the start. After all, two years is a long time. I'm glad I was able to start, that I tried at least those 30 gates, so I can't wait for the slalom," she said.
She competed for the first time since a fall in the giant slalom in Jasná on January 20, 2024, in which she seriously injured her knee. She entered the combination together with Katarína Šrobová, who got the opportunity in the downhill and finished 26th in her Olympic premiere.
Vlhová will compete on the Tofana slope again in eight days in the classic slalom. She won gold at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing four years ago in this event. However, as she herself says, she is still far from that form.
Today (February 11) at 16.40 the Slovak men’s hockey team kick off the ice hockey tournament against Finland.
Source: TASR
