On the 12th (local time) at the Livigno Snowpark in Italy, during the women's snowboard halfpipe final at the 2026 Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics, Choi Gaon fell badly in her first run, then got up and descended to the finish line. Photo by Yonhap

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It could not have been more exhilarating. High school snowboarder Choi Gaon (17, Sehwa Girls' High School) fought through injury to complete a dramatic comeback. Limping, she stood tall on the top of the podium.

On the 12th (local time) at Livigno Snowpark in Italy, in the final third run of the women's halfpipe at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, Choi scored 90.25 points to beat Chloe Kim of the United States (88.00 points) and Ono Mitsuki of Japan (85.00 points) and claim the title. It was the first gold medal for the Korean delegation at these Winter Games, and the first-ever Winter Olympic gold medal in Korea's snow events.

On the 12th (local time) at the Livigno Snowpark in Italy, Choi Gaon is performing a trick on her final third run in the women's ski and snowboard halfpipe final at the 2026 Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics. The photo was created by compositing six images taken of Choi Gaon's second jump in her third run. Yonhap News

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Born in November 2008, Choi broke the youngest gold medalist record in this event that Chloe Kim had set at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics (17 years and 10 months), winning at 17 years and 3 months. For Korean skiing, Lee Sangho opened the door with a silver medal in the men's snowboard alpine at Pyeongchang 2018, followed at these Games by Kim Sangkyum's silver in the men's snowboard alpine and Yoo Seungeun's bronze in the women's snowboard big air.

It was a dramatic victory. That day, heavy snow was falling at Livigno Snowpark. Many competitors crashed and failed to complete their runs. In her first run, Choi fell while attempting her second jump. After a hard collision near the edge, she failed to land and stayed down for a while, prompting medical staff to come in and check her condition.

Fortunately, Choi sat for a moment, then got up and rode down the slope. Her first-run score in the final was 10.00 points, leaving her in ninth place among the 12 finalists. Ahead of the second run, the scoreboard briefly showed that she would not start, heightening concern about her physical condition. Returning to the start gate, Choi went ahead with her second run but fell again. Her score was lower than the 10.00 points from the first run and was not posted.

On the 12th (local time) at the Livigno Snowpark in Italy, Choi Gaon is competing in the women's snowboard halfpipe final at the 2026 Milano-Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics. Yonhap News

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She completed her comeback in the final run. Going into the third run, she was down in 11th place among the 12 finalists with only the 10.00 points from her first run. Taking into account her physical condition and the snowy course, Choi opted against ultra-high-difficulty tricks of 1080 degrees or more. Instead, she put together a run featuring 900- and 720-degree spins, completed the third run, and earned a huge 90.25 points. She was the only competitor to break through the 90-point barrier.

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After winning the gold medal, Choi said in an interview, "When I fell in the first run, I thought I had broken something. Then, in that moment, the strength came back to me and I got up," explaining what had happened. She added with a big smile, "I had never fallen in practice, but I kept making mistakes because I was nervous. Still, I'm so happy that I was able to produce such a good result."

Snowboard halfpipe is an event in which riders descend an inclined, semi-cylindrical slope and perform aerial tricks. Judges score based on difficulty, height, execution, variety, and creativity to determine the rankings. The maximum score is 100.00 points. In the final, the best of three runs counts and decides the color of the medals.

Choi first took up snowboarding at age seven, influenced by her father, who enjoyed it as a hobby. Inspired by "figure skating queen" Kim Yuna, she once learned figure skating but fell in love with snowboarding and began competing. From a young age she was called a "snowboard prodigy." She drew global attention by becoming the youngest winner (14 years and 3 months) in the pipe event at the 2023 X Games, a world-renowned extreme sports competition. Early in 2024, she competed in a World Cup in Laax, Switzerland, but fractured her back during training and underwent surgery. After devoting a year to rehabilitation, she made a complete comeback.

On the 12th (local time) at the Livigno Snowpark in Italy, South Korea's Choi Gaon, who won the women's Ski & Snowboard halfpipe final at the 2026 Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics with a score of 90.25, is celebrating. Yonhap News

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Choi was a strong favorite to win this event. With three victories in the 2025-2026 International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) Snowboard World Cup, she was widely expected to medal at the Olympics. She scored over 90 points in all three World Cup events. In the women's halfpipe qualification held the previous day, she comfortably advanced to the final by finishing sixth out of 24 riders overall with 82.25 points, and on this day she made the most of her last chance to write a new chapter in Korean skiing history. When the gold medal was confirmed, Choi burst into tears of joy.

Chloe Kim, who was aiming for her third consecutive Olympic title in this event, had to settle for silver. She had been leading through the second run, but after being pushed down to second place, she went into her final third run and fell midway again, failing to retake the lead. Although she returned to the Olympic stage after missing recent competitions due to a shoulder injury, she was stopped by the brilliance of Choi Gaon's gold-medal performance.

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Yonhap News Agency

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