Korea's Winter Sports Success Needs Infrastructure, Not Just Luck

The 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics and Paralympics concluded on March 16 (local time) with the Paralympic closing ceremony, bringing the "winter sports festival" to an end.

The Korean delegation finished 13th overall at the Olympics with three gold, four silver, and three bronze medals. At the Paralympics, the team achieved its best-ever result of 13th place overall with two gold, four silver, and one bronze medal.

Good news came one after another from snow sports, previously called a "medal wasteland" that had received little attention. At the Olympics, snowboarding produced three medals (one gold, one silver, one bronze), while the Paralympics saw six medals (two gold, three silver, one bronze) in Nordic skiing and snowboarding.

The results could be called the "Miracle of Milan." Post-ceremony interviews with athletes reveal why. Due to insufficient professional training facilities domestically, most national team athletes reportedly train overseas for more than 200 days a year. Choi Ga-on, who won gold in women's snowboard halfpipe at these Olympics, also appealed about the poor training environment. "There are no facilities in Korea where we can train for snowboarding. We have no choice but to go to Japan, Europe, or North America to train. I wish training infrastructure would be expanded in Korea so we could focus solely on training somewhere nearby."

At these Winter Olympics and Paralympics, Korean snow sports athletes including snowboarders demonstrated sufficient potential to compete at world-class levels. However, unless training facility infrastructure such as air mats—essential for snow sports events like snowboard big air and halfpipe—is improved, the "Miracle of Milan" will remain just a brief flash.

President Lee Jae-myung hosted Olympic athletes for a luncheon at the Cheong Wa Dae guest house on the 5th of this month and expressed his commitment to spare no support for winter sports development. President Lee promised, "We will continuously expand training infrastructure, including competition facilities for winter sports that meet international standards."

For this promise not to become empty words, systematic budget planning and an execution plan are essential. There has been more than enough "support" that amounted to nothing but talk. At the 2030 French Alps Winter Olympics, I hope Korean athletes will give interviews like this: "Unlike four years ago, there were enough winter sports facilities, so we could train to our hearts' content. Thanks to the government's help, our skills improved tremendously. We dedicate the glory of this medal to the Korean government."