Teen Snowboarder Choi Ga-on Wins Korea's First Olympic Skiing Gold

Choi Ga-on, 17, claimed South Korea's first-ever Olympic gold medal in skiing or snowboarding events.

Choi scored 90.25 points to win the women's halfpipe final at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics at Livigno Snowpark, Italy, on Monday.

The victory made Choi the youngest Olympic champion in the event's history at 17 years and 3 months, breaking the record of 17 years and 10 months set by Chloe Kim of the United States at the 2018 PyeongChang Games.

Snowboard halfpipe is a competition where judges score athletes on aerial rotations and jumps performed on a semi-cylindrical slope.

Choi's path to gold was dramatic. She fell hard during her first run after catching an edge on landing from her second jump. Medical staff examined her as she struggled to get up, and the scoreboard briefly displayed "DNS" (Did Not Start) before her second run.

South Korean snowboarding has grown steadily since Kim Ho-jun's Olympic debut at the 2010 Vancouver Games. Following Lee Sang-ho's silver medal at PyeongChang 2018, this Olympics brought medals from Kim Sang-kyeom (silver) and Yoo Seung-eun (bronze) before Choi secured the nation's first gold.

She competed anyway. After falling again in the second run, Choi dropped to 11th among 12 finalists.

Everything changed in the final run. Adjusting her strategy due to pain and falling snow, Choi opted for 900-degree and 720-degree rotations instead of more difficult 1,080-degree tricks. Her clean execution earned the day's highest score of 90.25 points.

Kim, who led after the first run with 88.00 points, made repeated errors in subsequent attempts and finished with silver. Mitsuki Ono of Japan took bronze with 85.00 points.

Choi first gained international attention by winning the X Games in January 2023 as the youngest champion ever at 14 years and 2 months. She won her first World Cup in December that year but suffered a spinal fracture during training in early 2024, requiring surgery and over a year of rehabilitation.

She returned stronger, sweeping all World Cup events this season including consecutive victories in December and a win at Laax last month.