Cha Jun-hwan shared the story of how he had to withdraw from the competition due to an ankle injury.
On the 5th, during the broadcast of tvN's 'You Quiz on the Block', figure skating gold medalist Cha Jun-hwan appeared as a guest and opened up about his ankle injury.
Cha Jun-hwan mentioned that he has been an athlete for 15 years and has been part of the national team for 11 years. He noted that he is now the oldest member. Cha Jun-hwan explained, "The age gap with the youngest member is quite large now. I believe it's almost a 10-year difference. This means I've been doing this for a long time."
Cha Jun-hwan joined the national team in 2015 and ranked 5th at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. He then went on to win 1st place at the 2025 Harbin Asian Games.
Yoo Jae-suk asked, "Cha Jun-hwan said he only eats one energy bar all day long. Did he eat just energy bars again this time?" Cha Jun-hwan replied, "Maybe because I'm getting older, I need to eat more rice now," eliciting laughter.
Cha Jun-hwan stated, "Among male single skaters, I am on the taller side. Since I have to rotate, it's advantageous to be small and light." He mentioned, "For lunch, I eat light mainly vegetables like cabbage, cucumber, and tomatoes, and for dinner, I focus on a protein-rich diet. Looking back over the past three years, I feel I have made a lot of progress both physically and mentally."
Cha Jun-hwan said he overcame his ankle injury. He noted, "I struggled with an ankle injury since last season," and added, "When it was really bad, I couldn't wear the skates for even 5 minutes. When I'm jumping and moving on the ice, if the skates don't fit right, injuries can occur," which drew sympathy from those around.
Cha Jun-hwan mentioned that there was a time he participated in a competition after taking strong painkillers and throwing up, but eventually declared a withdrawal. He said, "I thought it would be better to finish that competition and take a break for a while due to the ankle."
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