The Full Story Of Why ENHYPEN's Sunghoon Started Figure Skating And Fell Deeply In Love With It

Recently, ENHYPEN‘s Sunghoon sat down for an interview with Weverse Magazine, where he shared the reason why he started figure skating and what made him persevere in it despite the challenges.

First Experience With Figure Skating

Sunghoon explained that before he was a figure skater, he was an ice hockey player and a casual speed skater. He decided to borrow someone’s skates one day and quickly realized that he enjoyed it. He was drawn to the way he could skate while showing off a variety of techniques.

I remember the first time I figure skated, I went to the ice rink just to try it out and I borrowed someone else’s skates. I already knew how to skate because I played ice hockey before that and did short track speed skating occasionally, so I was comfortable with it right away—it just felt completely different. Not only is there skating, but you show off different movements and techniques, too, and it feels a lot lighter without all the equipment on, so I started to feel like it suited me better.

— Sunghoon

Soon after, he told his parents that he wanted to pursue the sport, and they fully supported him by singing him up for classes. It wasn’t long before he started joining—and winning—competitions!

My parents asked me later that day how I liked it and I said it was fun and wanted to try it out a bit more, so they signed me up for classes right away, and that’s how I got started. I got better quickly after that, thanks to already knowing the basics, so I was able to advance to the athlete class, then after I finished every level I started going to competitions.

— Sunghoon

Falling For Figure Skating

At first, figure skating was just another hobby for Sunghoon. He had fun doing it but didn’t think it would ever evolve into something more.

I wasn’t always that serious about figure skating—just doing it for fun. As people already know, one of the reasons I first did hockey was to improve my social skills, but it was also because I always went inline skating near Hangang River with my dad since I was little. That’s when I started skating for the fun of it.

— Sunghoon

It was only after winning gold at the National Winter Sports Festival that Sunghoon realized he could start doing it competitively. He felt a drive to refine his skills, and he wanted to improve with his own power.

And then, after I won gold at the National Winter Sports Festival for the first time, that’s when I kept thinking, I could keep doing this; I want to be even better. In the beginning it was fun, plus my teacher was scary (laughs) so I felt a little like I was doing it without really thinking it through, but I think once I started to compete I began to feel like I could do it well all on my own.

— Sunghoon

The main reason why he continued figure skating in spite of the difficulties is because he enjoyed seeing his hard work pay off. He felt proud whenever he performed well, and he couldn’t forget what it was like to successfully execute a skill after failing many times.

And once I competed, I could easily see the fruits of all the training I did. Whenever I did well in a competition and got a good score I was so proud of myself and felt really good all day. There was also the fun of picking up different techniques one by one. Learning a new skill is actually a very difficult process, but when I can’t do something and then finally nail it after a bunch of practice, it feels amazing.

— Sunghoon

“It’s thrilling. I think that’s why I kept at it,” he concluded.