Choi Ga-on Overcomes Injury to Claim Korea's First Olympic Snowboard Gold

"After the first run, I thought 'it's over.' But I didn't want to give up. I gritted my teeth and pushed through. I believe this gold medal was given to me by heaven."

It was a situation where the word "give up" could have easily come to mind. During her first run, Choi Ga-on fell hard when her board caught the edge upon landing her second jump. There were concerns about a serious injury. The pain continued, and she tumbled through her second run as well. After the second run, she was limping noticeably.

But the 17-year-old competitor from Sewha Girls' High School refused to give up. Despite team officials urging her not to continue, she clutched her injured leg and took to the slope for her third run.

"After the first run, I couldn't put any strength in my leg and thought I couldn't continue," Choi said. "I cried hard thinking, 'Do I have to end my Olympics here?' But a voice in my head kept saying, 'You can do it. You have to go.' I told myself to trust my leg and gritted my teeth."

In her third run, Choi delivered a flawless performance featuring her signature high-flying jumps. It was a triumph earned by believing in herself when everyone else doubted her.

"After completing the third run, I felt relieved thinking, 'At least I landed. I finished despite the pain,'" she said with a smile. "I was shaking after getting hurt, but I still performed well, and that made me cry."

On February 12 local time at the Livigno Snopark in Italy, Choi scored 90.25 points in the women's halfpipe final at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics, defeating Chloe Kim of the United States, who scored 88.00. She had surpassed the idol she had looked up to since she first started snowboarding.

The gold medal came after overcoming numerous hardships, including a back injury two years ago, a year of rehabilitation, and the injury sustained during her first run—truly a "gold medal of tears."

With this victory, Choi became the first Korean athlete to win gold at these Olympics and the first Korean snowboarder to claim an Olympic gold medal. She also broke Kim's record as the youngest Olympic gold medalist in the event, set at the 2018 PyeongChang Games at 17 years and 10 months, by winning at just 17 years and 3 months old.

Born in 2008, Choi burst onto the snowboarding scene in January 2023 when, at barely 15 years old, she became the youngest winner of the halfpipe event at the X Games, a prestigious extreme sports competition. Later that year in December, she claimed her first World Cup victory.

But injury struck. In early 2024, she suffered a serious back injury at a World Cup event in Laax, Switzerland. After surgery, Choi spent an entire year solely focused on rehabilitation—a difficult process for a young athlete at the peak of her development.

Yet "giving up" is not in Choi's vocabulary. She persevered through rehabilitation and training. In December last year, with the Winter Olympics approaching, she finally returned to competition. This season, she won three World Cup events, showcasing her form and raising medal expectations before ultimately standing atop the podium.

Choi could not hold back tears of joy at the medal ceremony. Even as she received congratulations from silver medalist Chloe Kim and bronze medalist Mitsuki Ono of Japan, she kept wiping her eyes.

"While practicing for this competition, I was secretly rooting for Chloe, even though I wanted to win myself," Choi said. "After the competition, she came up to me and said, 'I'm really retiring now.' It felt a bit strange."

Having succeeded Kim as the new "Queen of Snowboarding," Choi expressed her determination to reach even greater heights.

"I want to keep snowboarding hard and become an athlete who surpasses myself," she declared.