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Snowboard champion determined to keep getting better
Choi Gaon couldn't walk at first, with no strength in her legs after taking a huge fall during her first run in the final of the women's halfpipe snowboard event at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on Thursday. The 17-year-old still dug deep and summoned enough energy to grab an unlikely gold medal at Livigno Snow Park in Livigno on this snowy night in northern Italy. Choi scored 90.25 points in her third and final run of the final for the title. The 12 finalists each had three runs, and only t
Feb. 13, 2026 -
Teen short track sensation Rim Jong-un soars to 1st career medal
Days before the start of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, teen short track speed skater Rim Jong-un was named as one of the rising stars to watch by the event's organizing committee. It didn't take long for the 18-year-old to live up to that hype, as Rim claimed the bronze medal in the men's 1,000 meters at Milano Ice Skating Arena on Thursday. The 1,000m final was Rim's first medal race in his first Winter Games. He and the rest of South Korea were knocked out in the semifinals of the mixed t
Feb. 13, 2026 -
Youth gone wild: teenage athletes deliver gold, bronze for S. Korea
Teenage athletes shone for South Korea at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on Thursday. The 17-year-old snowboarder Choi Gaon delivered the gold medal in the women's halfpipe event at Livigno Snow Park in Livigno, north of Milan. Then about an hour later, Rim Jong-un, the 18-year-old short tracker, claimed the bronze medal in the men's 1,000-meter race at Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan. Choi's was South Korea's first gold medal of this year's Olympics while Rim brought South Korea its first
Feb. 13, 2026 -
Snowboarder Choi Gaon claims gold in women's halfpipe
Choi Gaon captured the women's halfpipe snowboard title at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on Thursday for South Korea's first gold medal of the competition staging a miraculous comeback after taking a nasty fall that appeared to have dashed her hopes. Choi, 17, scored 90.25 points in the final held at Livigno Snow Park in Livigno, some 140 kilometers north of Milan. She denied Korean American superstar Chloe Kim a historic third straight gold, with Kim taking the silver medal with 88.00 point
Feb. 13, 2026 -
Korea sends two snowboarders to Olympic halfpipe finals
South Korea will have a rider in both the women’s and men’s snowboard halfpipe finals at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, as medal hopefuls Choi Gaon and Lee Chae-un advanced in Wednesday’s qualifications. Choi will compete for gold in the women’s final on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. local time at Livigno Snow Park in Livigno, which is 3:30 a.m. Friday in Korea. Lee is set to follow in the men’s final at the same local time on Friday — Saturday in Korea. Snowboard halfpipe is a freestyle discip
Feb. 12, 2026 -
Young snowboarders move closer to medals
Teen snowboarders Choi Gaon and Lee Chaeun both progressed to the finals of the women's and men's halfpipe events at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on Wednesday. Choi, 17, finished sixth in her qualification with 82.25 points, as the top 12 boarders advanced to the final scheduled for Thursday at Livigno Snow Park in Livigno, some 140 kilometers north of Milan. Two-time defending champion Chloe Kim won the qualification with 90.25 points. The Korean American star will try to become the first
Feb. 12, 2026 -
Snowboarder, figure skater going for medals
Snowboarder Lee Chaeun and figure skater Cha Jun-hwan will chase medals in their respective events at the Winter Olympics in northern Italy on Friday. With Lee among 12 competitors, the men's snowboard halfpipe final is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. at Livigno Snow Park in Livigno, some 140 kilometers north of Milan. The finalists will each take three runs, and the best score of the three will determine the final standings. The highest and the lowest of the six judges' scores will be discarded
Feb. 12, 2026 -
S. Korea to resume quest for 1st short track medal; women's curling begins
After failing to win a medal on the first day of the short track speed skating races of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on Tuesday, South Korea will try to get on the board on Thursday. The quarterfinals, semifinals and finals for the women's 500 meters and the men's 1,000 meters are scheduled for Thursday at Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan, starting at 8:15 p.m. Each of those two events will feature three South Koreans in the quarterfinals: Choi Min-jeong, Kim Gil-li and Lee So-yeon in the
Feb. 11, 2026 -
Two South Korean skiers disqualified after illicit substance found on skis
Two South Korean cross-country skiers were disqualified from the women’s classic sprint at the Winter Olympics on Tuesday after their skis tested positive for a banned substance, the International Ski and Snowboard Federation said. Han Dasom and Lee Eui-jin were disqualified from the qualification round after their skis tested positive for fluorinated wax, or fluor, a substance banned in 2023 due to its harmful effects on the environment and human health. The Korea Ski Association did not im
Feb. 11, 2026 -
Cha Jun-hwan in 6th after men's singles short program
Cha Jun-hwan ranked sixth after the men's singles short program in figure skating at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on Tuesday with his best score of the season. Cha scored 92.72 points at Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan, besting his previous season high by 1.12 points. Ilia Malinin of the United States topped the short program with 108.16 points, and Yuma Kagiyama of Japan was next with 103.07 points. In the short program for the team event last Saturday, Cha scored 83.53 points after a bo
Feb. 11, 2026 -
Figure skater still proud of himself despite missing free program cut
After completing the first Olympic short program of his career Tuesday night in Milan, figure skater Kim Hyun-gyeom emphatically pointed at himself with his right thumb and nodded his head with all the self-assuredness of an athlete at the top of his game. Someone who only saw that part of Kim's performance would have thought he must have skated the program of his life. However, it was far from it, as he only scored 69.30 points, more than five points off his season best, at Milano Ice Skating A
Feb. 11, 2026 -
Collision dashes S. Korea’s medal hopes in short track mixed team relay
South Korea's hope for a medal on the first day of short track speed skating at the Milan-Cortina Winter Games was dashed by an unfortunate collision Tuesday, as the country was kept off the board after winning a medal on each of the past two days in northern Italy. The first set of short track medals was awarded in the mixed team relay Tuesday at Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan, but South Korea couldn't get out of the semifinals and settled for an appearance in the consolation "B" final. Duri
Feb. 11, 2026 -
6 S. Koreans move on in women's, men's short track races
All six South Korean short track speed skaters in action progressed to the next phases in their respective individual races on Tuesday at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. In the women's 500 meters, Kim Gil-li, Choi Min-jeong and Lee So-yeon made it out of Tuesday's heats and progressed to the quarterfinals scheduled for Thursday. Eight groups of four skaters apiece entered the heats. Kim and Choi finished second in their respective groups to earn automatic berths. Lee So-yeon finished third in
Feb. 10, 2026 -
Once a rebellious hobby, Korea’s snowboarding breaks through with two stunning medals so far
When Yu Seung-eun, 18, stepped onto the Olympic podium Monday night, the moment carried far more meaning than a single medal. On her Olympic debut, she became the first South Korean woman to win an Olympic medal in skiing or snowboarding, capturing bronze in the women’s snowboard big air at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games and signaling the arrival of a new generation of Korean snow sports. Big air is a freestyle discipline judged on difficulty, execution and style, rewarding creativity and r
Feb. 10, 2026 -
Teenager gives S. Korea 2nd snowboard medal
South Korea won a medal in snowboard for the second straight day at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on Monday, with the 18-year-old Yu Seung-eun claiming the bronze medal in the women's big air event. By scoring 171.00 points -- the sum of her two best scores after three attempts at Livigno Snow Park in Livigno, north of Milan -- Yu became the first South Korean woman to win an Olympic medal in snowboard. This was the second snowboard medal for South Korea and its second medal, period, followi
Feb. 10, 2026