Cha Jun-hwan Wins Four Continents Championships Title

Figure skater Cha Jun-hwan has become the first Korean man to win a title at the International Skating Union Four Continents Figure Skating Championships.

On Sunday, he won the men's singles event at the championships in Tallinn, Estonia with a personal best of 273.22 points overall.

He topped the free skate program with 174.26 points after earning a personal best of 98.86 points in the short program a day earlier.

It is his first major senior international title and Korea's second gold medal ever at the championships. The first was in Vancouver in 2009 when former figure skating star Kim Yu-na took the women's gold medal.

Cha will now head to the Winter Olympics in Beijing, raising hopes of a medal in his second Winter Games appearance. Lee Si-hyeong, who will represent Korea along with Cha in Beijing, finished seventh at the championships.