Cha Jun-hwan

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. At the 2014 Korean Championships, he placed fifth at the senior level. 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.[13]

Cha performing his short program at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics.

Making his junior international debut, Cha won gold at the 2015 Skate Canada Autumn Classic by over 30 points. Competing with an ear infection at the 2016 South Korean Championships, he repeated as the senior national bronze medalist.[14] In February, he represented South Korea at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, placing fourth in the short program, fifth in the free skating, and fifth overall. In March, Cha competed in Debrecen, Hungary at the 2016 World Junior Championships, placing seventh in the short program, sixth in the free skating, and seventh overall.

Cha at the 2016–17 JGP Final.

In the 2016–17 season, Cha made his Junior Grand Prix debut at the JGP Japan. He performed a clean short program except for his flying camel spin, which got a level 2. He received 79.34 points, which put him in second place. In the free program, he skated cleanly except for an under-rotation on his triple Salchow. He was the last skater in the free skate, placing first by scoring another personal best of 160.13 points, and set a new world record of 239.47 points for junior men's combined total score.[15] He won a second gold medal at the 2016 JGP Germany, which qualified him for the 2016–17 Junior Grand Prix Final, where he won the bronze medal.

Cha won his first national title in January 2017, at the South Korean Championships.[16][17] He finished fifth at the 2017 World Junior Championships.

Cha at the exhibition gala at the 2018 Winter Olympics

Cha had to overcome injuries and boot problems to win his second national title in January 2018, at the South Korean Championships.[18] Having accumulated the highest point total across the three qualifying events, Cha was selected to represent South Korea at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, where he placed fifteenth as the youngest competitor in the men's event.[19]

Cha began his season by winning the silver medal at the 2018 Autumn Classic, after placing second in the short program with 90.56 points and first in the free skate with 169.22, ahead of training mate Yuzuru Hanyu.[20] He won the silver medal at the 2018 Finlandia Trophy with a total score of 239.19 points, behind Mikhail Kolyada.[21]

Cha at the 2018 Skate Canada podium.

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.[22] Cha then won a second bronze medal at 2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki with a total of 243.19 points,[23] making him the first-ever South Korean man to win two medals on the Grand Prix series. These two bronze medals gave him 22 qualification points, enough for him to qualify 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, with a season's best of 174.42 in the free skate and 263.49 for his total score. This put him on the podium in third place, earning him the bronze medal. He is the first South Korean man to win a Grand Prix Final medal, and the second-ever South Korean skater to do so since Kim.

After winning this third consecutive South Korean national title, Cha competed at the 2019 Four Continents Championships. He placed second in the short program, winning a small silver medal.[24] He struggled in the free skate, where six of his jumps were called underrotated, and thus downgraded in value. As a result, he placed eighth in the free, and dropped to sixth place overall. Of this, he said: "My technical jumps were not perfect, but I tried my best until the end of the program, so I am happy about fighting it through. This was my first senior championships, it was a good experience for me."[25]

He concluded his season at the 2019 World Figure Skating Championships. He placed eighteenth in both the short program and free skate to finish nineteenth overall.

Beginning the season at the 2019 CS Autumn Classic International, Cha attempted the quad flip in competition for the first time. Cha was fourth overall in the competition after a number of jumps were called underrotated.[26] At his first Grand Prix assignment, 2019 Skate America, Cha doubled his planned quad in the short program placing seventh.[27] Multiple falls in the free skate dropped him to eighth overall.[28] Cha was sixth at the 2019 Cup of China.[29]

After winning another Korean national title, Cha competed at the 2020 Four Continents Championships, held in Seoul. He earned a season's best in the short program despite underrotating his triple Axel attempt.[30] In the free skate, four of his jumps were called underrotated, which was sufficient to keep him off the podium at the event.[31] Cha was supposed to represent South Korea at World Figure Skating Championship 2020 but the competition was cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic.

• Set the junior-level men's record for the combined total with 239.47 points at the 2016 Junior Grand Prix Japan. Record was broken by Dmitri Aliev (Russia) at the 2016–17 Junior Grand Prix Final with 240.07 points.

Cha at the 2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki.

Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships. At team events, medals awarded for team results only. Personal best highlighted in bold.

Cha at the 2016–17 JGP Final.

Cha at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics.

Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships. At team events, medals awarded for team results only. Previous ISU world bests highlighted in bold.