South Korean figure skater Kim Chae-yeon captured a stunning gold medal in her Asian Winter Games debut in China on Thursday, beating three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto with a clean free skate.

The reigning Asian Winter Games champion Cha Jun-hwan grabbed a hard-earned silver medal at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Seoul on Saturday. Cha scored 185.78 points in the men's singles free skate at Mokdong Ice Rink for a total of 265.

Gold medalist Cha Junhwan (C) of South Korea, silver medalist Kagiyama Yuma (L) of Japan and bronze medalist Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan pose for photo at the victory ceremony for the men single skating free skating of figure skating event at the 9th Asian Winter Games in Harbin,

Local favorite Kim Chae-yeon of South Korea won the Four Continents figure skating competition with a near-flawless free skate on Sunday to prevent an American sweep of the podium. Kim, who led after the short program,

In many ways, South Korean figure skater Kim Chae-yeon is no different than many other athletes. She has bouts of self-doubt at times, worrying if she will fall to the ice on her next jump or if she will botch her next step sequence.