Cha Jun-hwan (; born October 21, 2001) is a South Korean figure skater. He is the 2023 World silver medalist, a four-time Four Continents medalist (gold in 2022, silver in 2025 and 2026, and bronze in 2024), the 2018–2019 Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, a six-time Grand Prix medalist (6 bronze), a five-time ISU Challenger Series medalist (2 gold and 3 silver), the 2025 Asian Winter Games champion, the 2025 World University Games bronze medalist, as well as a ten-time consecutive South Korean national champion (2017–2026). He represented South Korea at the 2018, 2022, and 2026 Winter Olympics. At the junior level, Cha is the 2016–17 Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medalist and a two-time Junior Grand Prix gold medalist.
Cha is the first South Korean man to win and to medal at the Four Continents Championships and the Asian Winter Games, as well as the first to medal at the World Championships, Grand Prix Final, Junior Grand Prix Final, and any senior Grand Prix event.
Personal life and education Cha Jun-hwan was born on October 21, 2001, in Seoul, South Korea. He has a brother who is four years older than him and a cat named Thor. In addition, he speaks English fluently.
He graduated from Whimoon Middle School and Whimoon High School. In 2020, he enrolled in the Global Sport program at Korea University, majoring in Sport Business, and graduated in 2025.
Competitive skating career
Early career Having learned various skills such as ballet, swimming, violin and piano to become a more versatile actor, Cha also began skating at age seven during a special class held at a public rink near his home over the school break. Although he initially started with short-track speed skating, he later switched to figure skating, which he found more engaging. After the class ended, he decided to pursue figure skating seriously. He later said that while skating, he "liked the wind" and "felt the freeness," which was "so impactful" that he continued to learn skating and decided to become an athlete. His first coach was former South Korean Olympic competitor Shin Hea-sook, and his skating idols were Evgeni Plushenko and Daisuke Takahashi.
Cha placed fourth as a junior skater at the 2011 South Korean Championships. In 2012, he won the junior level at the South Korean Championships. In the 2012–13 season, he took the novice gold medal at the Asian Trophy and repeated as the junior champion at the South Korean Championships. He placed fifth at the senior level at the 2014 Korean Championships. This was his first senior experience at national championships. During the 2014–15 season, Cha won the novice gold medal at the Merano Cup and the senior bronze medal at the South Korean Championships. In March 2015, he began training in Toronto under Brian Orser to improve his jumps, including the triple Axel and quads.
Junior career
2015–16 season: Junior international debut
Cha earned a spot on the national team for the first time after combining his scores from the two major domestic competitions, the 2014 Ranking Competition and the 2015 Korean Championships. In August, he competed in the Korean qualifying competition for the Junior Grand Prix, but due to the lingering effects of an ankle fracture, he did not make the list of selected athletes. Later, reflecting on this experience, he said, "I pushed myself to compete with an unhealed body, but I didn't lower the difficulty of my program. It was an inevitable result." He went on to add, "It was reckless, but I worked hard nonetheless."
Making his junior international debut, Cha won gold at the 2015 Skate Canada Autumn Classic by over 30 points. Despite a deduction, he landed his first triple Axel in an international competition. At the 2015 Ranking Competition in South Korea, he claimed his first senior-level win with a total score of 220.40 points, setting a new national record for Korean men's singles. Competing with an ear infection at the 2016 South Korean Championships, he won the senior national bronze medal again.
In February, Cha represented South Korea at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics, becoming the youngest member of the South Korean team. He placed fourth in the short program, fifth in the free skating, and fifth overall. In the team event, Cha competed for Team Courage, earning a season's best 139.97 points in the free skate to place third individually, while the team finished sixth overall. In March, Cha competed at the 2016 World Junior Championships. He placed seventh in the short program with 74.38 points and sixth in the free skate with 132.73 points. In both segments, he successfully landed the triple Axel and received GOE for the first time at an international competition. With a total score of 207.11 points, he finished seventh overall.
2016–17 season: Junior Grand Prix Final bronze
Starting the 2016–17 season, Cha placed first at the Korean qualifying competition for the Junior Grand Prix, earning two spots on the circuit. He made his Junior Grand Prix debut at the JGP Japan, scoring a personal best of 79.34 points in the short program and placing second. In the free skate, he scored another personal best of 160.13 points by landing a quadruple Salchow with a 2.0 GOE, making him the first Korean male skater to successfully land a quad jump in an ISU international competition and the youngest male skater in the world to do so at the time. His combined total of 239.47 points set a new world record for junior men's combined total score, earning him the gold medal. Cha then won his second gold medal at the 2016 JGP Germany, becoming the first Korean male skater to win two consecutive Junior Grand Prix titles, which qualified him for the 2016–17 Junior Grand Prix Final.
One week later, Cha earned his second consecutive win at the 2016 Ranking Competition held in South Korea. In the 2016–17 Junior Grand Prix Final, he fell on the combination jump in the short program causing a large point loss, but completed the other elements without major errors to place fourth. In the free program, he placed third by successfully performing most elements, except for a fall on the second triple flip. He won the bronze medal, becoming the first Korean male skater to medal at the Junior Grand Prix Final. Cha reflected on his first Junior Grand Prix circuit, saying, "I learned a lot from it." He mentioned that he realized it's important to "enjoy the competition" and "maintain rhythm during the performance."
In January, Cha won his first national title at the 2017 South Korean Championships. At the 2017 World Junior Championships in March, he earned a personal best of 82.34 points in the short program, placing second. He added two quad Salchows in the free program unlike previous competitions. He successfully completed the first quadruple combination jump but fell on the second solo quad jump, scoring 160.11 points. He finished fifth overall with a personal best total of 242.45 points, which ranks fifth on the list of highest junior men's combined totals through the 2017–18 season.
Senior career
2017–18 season: Pyeongchang Olympics
Cha made his senior debut at age 15 as he was invited to two Grand Prix events. In July, he competed in the first-round Olympic qualifying event, but sustained a hip injury, which landed him nearly 20 points behind the leader. He then suffered a series of ankle and wrist injuries and finished ninth at 2017 Skate Canada. Cha withdrew from 2017 Skate America to focus on the second-round Olympic qualifying and the 2017 Ranking Competition.
He finished second at the aforementioned event, but was 27.54 points behind the leader after the combined scores from the first and second rounds. However, Cha went on to win the third-round qualifying and 2018 South Korea Championships to become the second consecutive national champion. He was selected to represent South Korea at the Olympic after overtaking the leader by 2.13 points with the combined scores from first through third rounds.
Cha competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics Games in Pyeongchang at the age of 16, the youngest competitor in the men's event and the youngest male athlete in any sport on the South Korea team. He arrived late to the athletes' village after being quarantined due to the flu, but competed in the team event, finishing sixth in person and ninth as a team. In the men's event, he scored a personal best 83.43 in the short program to become the first South Korean man to qualify for the Olympic free skate in 20 years. He scored 165.16 in the free program and 248.59 for a total score, all personal bests, and a 15th-place finish, the best Olympic result for a South Korean male skater. He was scheduled to compete at the 2018 World Junior Championships, but withdrew to recover from injury.
2018–19 season: Grand Prix Final bronze
Cha performed his short program to the ballet Cinderella on his coach's recommendation, which he said the choreography was enjoyable. For his free skate he chose Romeo + Juliet himself, a program he had wanted to skate two years ago. He said it was better to perform it this season and was satisfied with the modern-style program and its character. Cha began his season at the 2018 Autumn Classic, where he won the silver medal with a total score of 259.78 points, his first senior international medal. He placed second in the short program with 90.56 points and first in the free skate with 169.22 points. All three scores were personal bests, and he landed a quadruple toe loop and a triple Lutz–triple loop combination. He later won another silver medal at the 2018 Finlandia Trophy with a total score of 239.19 points.
At his first Grand Prix assignment, the 2018 Skate Canada, he placed third in the short program and third in the free skate to win the bronze medal overall, landing two clean quadruple salchows across both segments of the competition. With this finish, Cha became the second-ever South Korean figure skater to win a Grand Prix medal, after Yuna Kim, and the first-ever South Korean man to make the podium at a Grand Prix. Cha then won a second bronze medal at 2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki with a total of 243.19 points, making him the first-ever South Korean man to win two medals on the Grand Prix series. These two bronze medals qualified him for the 2018 Grand Prix Final, making him the first South Korean man to do so and the first from his country since Kim.
Cha concluded the Grand Prix series at the Final, placing fourth in the short program and third in the free skate. This won him the bronze medal, earning personal bests of 174.42 points in the free skate and 263.49 points in total. He is the first South Korean man to win a Grand Prix Final medal and the second South Korean skater to do so since Kim. Following the Final, Cha competed in domestic events over the next three weeks, winning the Seoul qualifying round of the Winter Sports Festival and the 2018 Ranking Competition. He then took his third consecutive South Korean national title.