Korea's Choi Ga-on Named Among NBC's 13 Rising Stars of Winter Olympics

Choi Ga-on, who delivered South Korea's first-ever Olympic gold medal in snow sports, has been named to NBC's list of 13 rising stars at the Winter Olympics.

NBC, the official U.S. Olympic broadcaster, introduced breakout athletes from the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on its website on February 23.

"Chloe Kim was the biggest star of the Games and was going for a third straight title in the event, but it was 18-year-old Choi Ga-on who took home the gold," NBC wrote. "Choi had three FIS World Cup wins before the Olympics, but her Olympic gold medal has now brought her significant attention."

The list also includes women's 1000m speed skating gold medalist Jutta Leerdam of the Netherlands, ski jumping gold medalist siblings Domen Prevc and Nika Prevc of Slovenia, and women's figure skating gold medalist Alysa Liu of the United States.

Non-athlete "stars" selected include Jordan Cowan, who filmed while skating with a camera at the figure skating venue, and a large dog that suddenly appeared at the cross-country skiing venue.

Choi was also named among the eight most inspiring moments of the Games by NBC.

"Choi failed on both her first and second runs, but delivered an overwhelming performance on her third and final run to win gold," NBC said. "It was also impressive to see silver medalist Chloe Kim celebrating more than anyone."

Other inspiring moments included Maxime Naumov and Mikaela Shiffrin paying tribute to deceased family members after their events, Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan winning men's figure skating, 41-year-old Elana Meyers Taylor of the United States winning bobsled gold, and Brazil claiming its first-ever Winter Olympic gold medal.