Richard Kang-in Kam (born 24 December 1996) is a retired New Zealand and South Korean

ice dancer Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. A ...

who most recently competed with Charlotte Lafond-Fournier representing New Zealand. Competing for South Korea with his former skating partner, Lee Ho-jung, he is a two-time national medalist and competed in the free dance at four ISU Championships.

Early life

On 24 December 1996, Kam was born in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. He is the younger brother of Korean figure skater Alex Kang-chan Kam.

Career

Kam began skating in 2005. He competed as a singles skater until the 2013–2014 season.

Ice dancing

In the 2014–15 season, Kam began competing in

ice dancing Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. A ...

with Lee Ho-jung. At the 2015 World Junior Championships in

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

, Estonia, they qualified to the final segment by placing twentieth in the short dance and went on to finish nineteenth overall. Lee/Kam made their senior international debut in February 2016 at the

Four Continents Championships The Four Continents Figure Skating Championships are an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU). Medals are awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. The ISU est ...

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

, Taiwan, where they finished tenth. In March, they placed fourteenth at the 2016 World Junior Championships in

Debrecen Debrecen ( ; ; ; ) is Hungary's cities of Hungary, second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain Regions of Hungary, region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the large ...

, Hungary. In their final season together, Lee/Kam won the silver medal at the South Korean championships and finished thirteenth at the 2017 Four Continents Championships. Lee Ho-jung announced on 3 April 2017, that their partnership has been dissolved. After some years away from competition, Kam formed a new partnership with Canadian ice dancer Charlotte Lafond-Fournier, this time representing New Zealand. They made their Challenger series debut at the

2021 CS Autumn Classic International The 2021 CS Autumn Classic International was held on September 16–18, 2021 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was part of the 2021–22 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in single skating, men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ...

, where they finished in seventh. Lafond-Fournier/Kam next competed at the

2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy The 2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy was held on September 22–25, 2021 in Oberstdorf, Germany. It was part of the 2021–22 ISU Challenger Series. It was also the final qualifying event for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Medals were awarded in the disciplin ...

, seeking to

qualify Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

a berth for a New Zealand dance team at the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), were an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beijing, China, and surrounding areas wit ...

, but finished in twelfth position, outside of qualification. Lafond-Fournier/Kam were ninth at the 2022 Four Continents Championships and twenty-fourth in their inaugural appearance at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

Programs

Ice dancing with Lafond-Fournier

Ice dancing with Lee

Single skating

Competitive highlights

With Lafond-Fournier for New Zealand

With Lee for South Korea

Single skating for South Korea

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kam, Richard 1996 births Living people Figure skaters from Seoul Sportspeople from Christchurch South Korean male ice dancers South Korean male single skaters New Zealand people of South Korean descent New Zealand emigrants to South Korea Figure skaters at the 2017 Asian Winter Games 21st-century South Korean sportsmen