Early career Having learned various skills such as ballet, swimming, violin and piano to become a more versatile actor, He later said that while skating, he "liked the wind" His first coach was former South Korean Olympic competitor
Shin Hea-sook, 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." He placed fourth in the short program, fifth in the free skating, and fifth 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. 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, His combined total of 239.47 points set a new world record for junior men's combined total score, earning him the gold medal. 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. 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, 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. In
the men's event, he scored a personal best 83.43 in the short program to become a 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. 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. 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. At the
2019 Four Continents Championships he placed second in the short program with a personal best of 97.33 points, winning a small silver medal. He concluded his season at the
2019 World Figure Skating Championships, placing eighteenth in both the short program and free skate to finish nineteenth overall.
2019–20 season Beginning the season, Cha's short program came from his request to his choreographer to skate an unfamiliar
tango. For his free skate, he explained, "This is kind of my story," saying that he intended to portray a person learning about the world and growing through emotions such as happiness, joy, and sadness. His first event of the season was the
2019 CS Autumn Classic International, where Cha attempted the quad
flip in competition for the first time. He was fourth overall in the competition after several jumps were called underrotated. Cha's first event of the season was the
2021 South Korean Championships held in late February, where he won his fifth consecutive title. He was assigned to Korea's lone men's berth at the
2021 World Championships in
Stockholm. Two weeks later, at the
2021 World Championships, Cha placed eighth in the short program. Cha's first competition of the season was the Olympic test event, the
2021 Asian Open in
Beijing, where he placed sixth. Sent to compete at the
2022 Four Continents Championships in
Tallinn, Cha placed first in both segments, earning personal bests in the short program and overall total to take the gold medal. He became the first South Korean man to win and medal at the Four Continents Championships. Then, at the
2022 World Championships, he experienced boot problems during the first official practice and placed seventeenth in the short program. He completed the practice on the day of the free skate, but subsequently withdrew due to the condition of his boots, which made it impossible to perform the program and posed a risk of injury.
2022–23 season: World silver medalist Following the end of the Beijing Olympic cycle, Cha said he wanted to break his habit of using "rather classical music" and instead, "I wanted to show a different side of my character and reinvent myself on the ice. I wanted something modern, with vocals." He and choreographer
Shae-Lynn Bourne chose the music of
Michael Jackson for the short program while the free skate used the soundtrack of the
James Bond film
No Time to Die, which he cited as one of his favorites. Cha opted to begin the season with back-to-back events on the
Challenger series, citing a desire for "motivation for myself to improve as quickly as possible." He won silver at the
2022 CS Nepela Memorial and then gold at the
2022 CS Finlandia Trophy on the following weekend. A month later, Cha participated in the
2023 World Team Trophy, for which South Korea had qualified for the first time in the history of the event. Cha set a new personal best in the short program, coming second in the segment, and then won the free skate, helping the Korean team win the silver medal. Cha began the season by finishing fourth at the
2024 Nebelhorn Trophy. Going on to compete on the
2024–25 Grand Prix series, Cha placed fourth in the short program at
2024 Skate Canada International, but second in the free skate, moving up to the bronze medal position overall. Cha ultimately won the gold medal at the Ranking Competition and was thus named to the
2025 Four Continents Championships team. One month later, he won his ninth consecutive national title at the
2025 South Korean Championships, solidifying his place on the
2025 Worlds team. In mid-January, Cha competed at the
2025 Winter World University Games in
Turin, Italy. He was fifth after the short program but delivered a clean free skate, winning the bronze medal. He revealed, "until the beginning of December I was having a really bad injury and about a month ago I got into normal training" and said he was very happy that "I saved a lot of things and put in the energy." Cha then went on to compete at the
2025 Asian Winter Games, where he placed second in the short program but finished first in the free skate to win the gold medal. Cha said that he made up for a risky moment in the free skate, noting, "I focused entirely on my performance and tried to maintain my concentration until the very end." He subsequently remarked, "honestly, I was satisfied with the way I performed. I had absolutely no regrets, and it didn't matter to me what the result was." Following his gold medal win, he was classified as
Art and Sports Personnel, a type of supplementary service, instead of serving on active duty or as social service personnel. This is generally regarded as a form of exemption from
compulsory military service in the
Republic of Korea Armed Forces. One week later, Cha competed at the
2025 Four Continents Championships in his hometown of
Seoul. He placed fourth in the short program after popping a planned quad Salchow into a double. During the free skate, Cha skated a solid performance, apart from doubling a planned quad toe loop. He finished second in that segment and won the silver medal overall. Following the event, Cha said, "There are a lot of things going on this season, but I was able to finish my free skating pretty well. It was a bit tough to keep the form as the best, but I've tried my best as this is the second Four Continents held in Korea. I feel a little disappointed about on the double toe-loop but overall, I'm satisfied with the result." In March, at the
2025 World Championships in
Boston, Massachusetts, United States, he fell on his triple Axel in the short program and placed tenth in that segment. In the free skate he placed fifth, which helped him rise to seventh place overall. This result gave South Korea one quota for the men's event at the upcoming
2026 Winter Olympics as well as allowing them to attempt to qualify a second quota at the qualifying competition in September. In May, Cha became the first member to join the
Seoul Metropolitan Government's new figure skating team. This marks the first-ever instance of a figure skater joining a
workplace sports team in South Korea. He expressed being "honored and excited" and added, "The fact that it is the first such Korean team established for figure skaters makes it even more meaningful." He also went on to say, "As this is the first of its kind, I am eager to see the positive impact it will have on my peers and juniors in the future."
2025–26 season: Milano Cortina Olympics, Four Continents silver, and struggles with boot problems Cha opened the season by competing on the
2025–26 Challenger Series, winning gold at the
2025 CS Kinoshita Group Cup. The following month, he competed at the
2025 CS Denis Ten Memorial Challenge but was forced the withdraw following the short program due to boot problems. Issues with his skates continued at the
2025 Cup of China only weeks later, where Cha finished the event in eighth place overall. A couple weeks following that event, Cha competed at the
2025 NHK Trophy. He placed third in the short program but only tenth in the free skate, dropping to fifth place overall. Following his free skate, he shared, "I wasn't that disappointed with my skating today. For the past few months, I haven't been able to practice as much as I wanted due to boot issues. So, I'll just accept today's result and regroup to prepare for the second half of the season." In early December, Cha finished second at the Korean Ranking Competition, which named him to the
2026 Four Continents team and placed him in the lead for the
Milan Olympics team selection. After the event, he shared that he had not yet found a solution to his boot problems and would likely have to purchase new ones. He said that he felt a bit exhausted but regained his strength thanks to the support, adding, "Although I'm preparing under difficult circumstances, I won't give up until the end." The following month, Cha won his tenth consecutive national title at the
2026 South Korean Championships. Following the event, he was named to the
2026 Winter Olympic team. Prior to the
Four Continents Championships, it was announced that Cha had decided to bring back his "Balada para un Loco" free program from the previous season. At the event, he placed sixth in the short program and won the free skate to win the silver medal overall, only 0.11 points behind gold medalist,
Kao Miura. "I'm very happy about my performance today," said Cha after the free skate. "I'm glad that I can skate here, because the last three months I was very unstable. After nationals, I could train properly, especially in these two weeks. Yesterday I made mistakes, but even then, I was really happy that I can skate here and enjoy the competition." One week before the start of the Olympics, it was announced that Cha and speed skater,
Park Ji-woo, would serve as flag bearers for the South Korean Olympic team during the opening ceremony. On 7 February, Cha placed eighth in the short program in the
2026 Winter Olympics Figure Skating Team Event due popping a planned
triple Axel into a single. "I tried my best, I really enjoyed my performance today," he said. "I made a little mistake on the third jump, but I can recover and prepare for that jump in the individual events. Overall, I’m really happy and I really enjoyed the Olympics today." With his placement, Team South Korea finished in seventh place overall. "I think today my biggest goal was to enjoy skating and skate with my heart," said Cha after his performance. "I think I achieved that goal because I really skated from my heart, and I think I truly did my very best. I gave it everything I have. I'm very grateful and happy. Especially today in the venue, the audience was really cheering for the skaters. That was really powerful for us, to react on that energy and give it back. It made us feel really grateful. I was very happy that I could skate here today." Cha's score and placement sparked online backlash with many skating fans feeling like he deserved a higher score than the 92.72 points he was given. He echoed these sentiments in an interview, saying, "Honestly, I expected a slightly higher score. That's probably why I became a bit more indifferent during the kiss-and-cry zone." After the free skating practice, he said, "Even though I did not receive the score I wanted, I believe that the moment in which I gave everything I had was mine. The fact that I did my best does not change." Two days later, Cha skated a solid free skate apart from falling on a planned
quad toe. He placed fifth in that segment and due to a few skaters that placed ahead of him in the short program having error-riddled free skate performances, Cha managed to climb up to fourth place overall, only 0.98 points out of the bronze medal position. Despite this, Cha's placement became the highest result for a South Korean men's singles skater, beating his previous fifth-place finish at the
2022 Winter Olympics. Despite this, Cha expressed satisfaction with his result, saying, "I'm happy, I'm grateful. I really gave my best today here. Even though I made a mistake, I fought through everything else. I gave everything today, so I'm proud of myself that I came here and I didn't give up. It was through those hard times... I didn't expect the placement because my main goal at this point was to have my moment and enjoy that moment. On that side, I think I achieved that goal. So I was already proud of myself and happy." Cha notably had the highest program component scores of the men's free skate event. Several figure skating fans expressed disappointment at Cha's overall placement, claiming that had his short program been scored higher as fans and skating personnel thought it should have been, he would have won the Olympic bronze medal. Cha said a few days after the free skating event, "Rather than not winning a medal, I feel disappointed that I received a lower score than I deserved after overcoming such a difficult moment. I resented myself for having expected a high score after I finished skating." He added, "The fact that I gave it my all will not change. I think I wrapped up my third Olympics well, so I am accepting the result." Meanwhile, Martina Corgnati, daughter late singer,
Milva, praised Cha's free skate performance to her mother's song, "Balada para un Loco." "That was sublime," she said addressing Cha, "You were so graceful. So deeply in touch with the music that I really felt an emotion I couldn't imagine I could've felt. My mother died five years ago but she would've been so grateful. So touched. That I want to express also from her, our gratitude." She also wrote Cha a letter and gifted him with a Milva CD album that included the song he skated to as well as a rare discontinued set of Milva stamps that had previously been issued in Italy four years prior. In response to Corgnati's recognition, Cha expressed, "It was such an honor. I never imagined they would recognize me like that. I think they did it because my performance touched their hearts. I felt grateful because I felt like my sincerity was conveyed." Days following the event, Cha revealed that he had been suffering from severe pain in his right ankle throughout the duration of the Games. "To be honest, my physical condition is not normal," he shared. "Over the past month, I changed skates a lot during training (because they didn't fit my feet exactly), and the pressure on my ankle made the pain worse. Fluid built up around the outer ankle bone of my right foot, and I kept having it drained as I prepared for this Olympics. I approached it thinking I would just hold out through this Olympics... Right before arriving in Milan I felt a bout of body aches, and after taking vitamin C before boarding the plane and sleeping deeply, it got a bit better. Once the free skate ended, my body relaxed and my throat started to hurt. I'm glad the cold symptoms got worse only after the free skate." Cha also stated that he was unsure whether he would compete at the
2026 World Championships the following month because of the injury. ==Public life==