Seventeen-year-old figure skating men's singles rising star Choi Ha-bin (Hankwang High School) has won the Junior Grand Prix with overwhelming technical prowess, successfully landing the high-difficulty quadruple Lutz jump twice.

Competing in Riga, Latvia, Choi scored 98.70 points in technical elements (TES), 71.50 points in program components (PCS), and a total of 170.20 points in the free skate at the 2026-2027 International Skating Union (ISU) Junior Grand Prix 2nd event.

Having recorded 76.21 points in the short program, Choi claimed the championship with a final combined score of 246.41 points.

Although he sat in fifth place following a jumping error in the short program, he pulled off a dramatic comeback with an overwhelming performance in the free skate.

Notably, his free skate score significantly surpassed his previous personal best of 154.43 points, and his final total score also broke his previous personal best of 232.19 points.

Choi climbed to the highest step of the podium by comfortably outdistancing runner-up Lee Jae-keun (229.77 points, Korea University) and third-place Ian Beiler (221.73 points, Switzerland).

This marks Choi's second Junior Grand Prix victory, following his win at the 6th event of the 2025-2026 season in October of last year.

Choi executed three flawless quadruple jumps, starting with his opening quadruple Lutz-triple toe loop combination jump, followed by a solo quadruple Lutz and a solo quadruple toe loop. In particular, the quadruple Lutz, which Choi landed twice, is a high-difficulty jump with the second-highest base value among jumping elements, following only the quadruple axel.

In September of last year at the 2025-2026 ISU Junior Grand Prix 3rd event, Choi wrote a new chapter in history by becoming the first South Korean skater to successfully land a quadruple Lutz in an official competition.

Powered by his quadruple Lutz last year, Choi finished first and second in two Junior Grand Prix events, placed sixth at the Junior Grand Prix Final, and finished fifth at the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships.

Having won his first competition of the current season, Choi has brightened his prospects of advancing to the Junior Grand Prix Final for the second consecutive year.

Lee Jae-keun achieved his second career Junior Grand Prix podium finish.

Lee first reached the podium by winning a silver medal at the 2024-2025 Junior Grand Prix 1st event held at the same venue in August 2024, and he tasted the joy of winning a medal once again by capturing the silver two years later.

(File Photo: Yonhap News)