Why Is Korean Snowboarding So Strong?

Gold, Silver, and Bronze in the Early Days of the Winter Olympics
Teen Phenoms Choi Gaon and Yoo Seungeun Emerge as Unprecedented Talents
Rapid Growth Driven by Systematic Association Support and Backing from Lotte

Korean snowboarding has entered a new renaissance.

At the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, Korea captured gold, silver, and bronze medals. In the men's parallel giant slalom, Kim Sanggyeom of High1 and in the women's snowboard big air, Yoo Seungeun of Seongbok High School won silver and bronze medals respectively. On top of that, in the women's halfpipe, Choi Gaon of Sehwa Girls' High School, who had long been regarded as a strong medal contender, pulled off a dramatic come-from-behind victory to claim Korea's first gold medal. Having fulfilled its long-cherished dream of reaching the Olympic podium with Lee Sangho of Nexen Tire winning silver in the parallel giant slalom at the Pyeongchang 2018 Games, Korean snowboarding has now emerged as a reliable medal event.

Choi Gaon is smiling brightly after winning the gold medal in the women's snowboard halfpipe at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. Livigno (Italy) = Yonhap News Agency

What is the secret behind the rise of Korean snowboarding? The solid support from Lotte Group, whose chairman also heads the association, is bearing fruit. Lotte has backed Korean skiing and snowboarding for more than 10 years, starting when Chairman Shin Dongbin took office as president of the Korea Ski and Snowboard Association in 2014. In November 2014, after the association had gone through about a year of leadership vacuum and was struggling as preparations for the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics were getting into full swing, Lotte's support allowed it to take off. The driving force was Chairman Shin Dongbin's passion for skiing, having competed as a skier during his school days.

During Shin's tenure as association president from 2014 to 2018, Lotte provided more than 17.5 billion won in support and also sponsored the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics with 50 billion won. Even after Shin stepped down, executives from Lotte have continued to serve as association presidents, and in 2022 Lotte also launched a ski and snowboard team, providing promising athletes with signing bonuses, training expenses, and equipment so that they can focus entirely on their sport.

The emergence of talented young athletes such as Choi Gaon and Yoo Seungeun is also impressive. An unprecedented generation of teenage snowboarders has appeared in Korea. Influenced by fathers who loved snow and snowboarding, they naturally began enjoying the sport, discovered their talent, and rose to become world-class athletes.

Shin Dongbin, chairman of Lotte Group, who was a ski athlete during his school days, actively supported the development of skiing and snowboarding in Korea. Yonhap News

The expansion of infrastructure has also played a role. On the back of the Pyeongchang Olympics, world-class facilities were built, giving promising athletes places to train. With the association's support, foreign coaches were brought in, and exchanges and joint training programs were arranged so that athletes could acquire advanced skills. Through joint training with other countries, athletes accumulated diverse international competition experience, while international judges were also trained, helping to strengthen overall competitiveness.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.