Choi Ha-bin (; born 4 November 2009) is a South Korean figure skater. He is the 2026 South Korean national bronze medalist. On the junior level, he is a three-time ISU Junior Grand Prix medalist and the 2023 South Korean junior national champion.
He is the first South Korean to land a quadruple lutz in international competition.
Personal life
Choi was born on 4 November 2009 in Seoul, South Korea. His favorite skater is Nathan Chen.
Competitive skating career
Early years
Choi was the 2023 South Korean junior national champion, after successfully landing a triple axel in both his short program and his free skate.
2023–24 season: Junior international debut
Choi made his junior international debut at the Denis Ten Memorial, where he placed first. At the senior level, he would go on to place seventh 2024 South Korean Figure Skating Championships.
2024–25 season: Junior Grand Prix debut Choi made his ISU Junior Grand Prix debut at 2024 JGP Thailand in Bangkok. After a clean skate, he was third in the short program but placed seventh in the free skate, falling on three jumps, including on a quadruple salchow attempt. He would go on to place sixth overall in the event. His second Junior Grand Prix assignment was to 2024 JGP Slovenia in Ljubljana. Again, he was third after the short program and seventh in the free skate. In the free skate, he landed his first quadruple salchow in international competition and placed fifth overall.
Subsequently, he would place fifth at the 2025 South Korean Figure Skating Championships and was assigned to the 2025 World Junior Championships. He was sixth in the short program and fourth in the free skate, placing fifth overall at his first World Junior Figure Skating Championship. "I made a mistake on the quad toe, but everything else went well, so I’m very happy about that," he said in an interview after his free skate. "I’m very glad I could be in the top six at my first Junior Worlds."
2025–26 season: Junior Grand Prix Final, National bronze medal Choi competed in 2025 JGP Italy in Varese, where he was first after the short program but fell to second overall behind Taiga Nishino after mistakes in his free skate. Nevertheless, he successfully landed a quadruple lutz in the free, becoming the first South Korean to land one in international competition. At 2025 JGP Poland in Gdańsk, he won his first Junior Grand Prix gold medal, which qualified him for the 2025–26 Junior Grand Prix Final.
At the 2025–26 Junior Grand Prix Final in Nagoya, Choi was fifth after the short program after missing his mandatory jump combination. "I was kind of nervous because there were a lot of audience and spectators in the stadium today," he shared following his short program. Choi was sixth in the free skate and therefore finished sixth overall at the Junior Grand Prix Final. At the 2026 South Korean Figure Skating Championships, he placed third in both the short program and the free skate to win the bronze medal, behind Cha Jun-hwan and Seo Min-kyu.
Selected to compete at the 2026 World Junior Championships in Tallinn, he was ninth in the short and fourth in the free short to finish in fifth place overall.
2026–27 season Opening his international season at 2026 JGP Latvia in Riga, Choi was fifth after the short program after making a mistake on his combination jump. However, he came back from fifth to first in the free, scoring a personal best and winning his second JGP gold medal. With his free skate, he became the first South Korean to land three quadruple jumps—two quadruple lutzes, one in combination, and one quadruple toe loop—in a program in international competition. Habin later won the bronze medal at the JGP in Turkey.
Programs Season Short program Free skating Exhibition 2026–2027 Warsaw Concerto Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales 2025–2026 TaeGukGi You Raise Me Up Only You (And You Alone) 2024–2025 Tron: Legacy Overture Fall TaeGukGi 2023–2024 "Dragon Theme, Father's Nightmare" 2022–2023 "In This Shirt" "The Dragon's Heartbeat"
Competitive highlights
Detailed Results
Current personal best scores are highlighted in bold.
Senior level
Junior level 2026–27 season Date Event SP FS TotalSeptember 17–19, 20262026 JGP Turkey3 69.664 125.233 194.89 August 27–29, 2026 2026 JGP Latvia 5 76.21 1 170.20 1 246.41 2025–26 season Date Event SP FS Total March 3–8, 2026 2026 World Junior Championships 9 75.78 4 148.58 5 224.36 December 4–7, 2025 2025–26 Junior Grand Prix Final 5 70.94 6 129.76 6 200.70 October 1–4, 2025 2025 JGP Poland 2 78.53 1 148.73 1 227.26 September 3–6, 2025 2025 JGP Italy 1 77.76 2 154.43 2 232.19 2024–25 season Date Event SP FS Total February 25–March 2, 2025 2025 World Junior Championships 6 77.22 4 150.06 5 227.28 October 2–5, 2024 2024 JGP Slovenia 3 70.97 7 129.79 5 200.7 September 11–14, 2024 2024 JGP Thailand 3 74.03 7 120.39 6 194.41 2023–24 season Date Event SP FS Total November 1–4, 2023 2023 Denis Ten Memorial 2 63.82 1 138.22 1 202.04 2022–23 season Date Event SP FS Total January 5–8, 2023 2023 South Korean Championships 1 71.83 1 142.81 1 214.64
References
External links