South Korean figure skater Cha Jun-hwan won the gold medal in the men's singles figure skating competition at the Asian Winter Games on February 13.
Competing at the Heilongjiang Ice Training Center's multipurpose hall in Harbin, China, Cha delivered a dominant performance in the free skate, earning 187.60 points. His score consisted of a technical element score (TES) of 99.02 and a program component score (PCS) of 88.58. Along with his short program score of 94.09, he secured the gold with a final total of 281.69 points.
Cha's victory solidified South Korea's standing in the figure skating world, as both the men's and women's singles competitors outperformed Japan's top contenders. He edged out Japan's Yuma Kagiyama, often considered the "strongest in Asia," who earned a total of 272.76 points for the silver medal.
Earlier in the day, Kim Chae-yeon won gold in the women's singles event at the same location. She achieved a free skate score of 147.56, with a Technical Element Score (TES) of 79.07 and a Program Component Score (PCS) of 68.49. Alongside her short program score of 71.88 from the previous day, her total was 219.44 points, which surpassed the world's top-ranked skater and 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic bronze medalist Kaori Sakamoto of Japan, who secured silver.