Figure skater savors 1st Olympics, on and off ice

While preparing for Thursday night's free skate at her first Winter Olympics in Italy, figure skater Lee Hae-in tried to stop and smell the roses, instead of just having tunnel vision on the task at hand. A sensitive type who enjoys drawing and jotting down her thoughts throughout the day, Lee looked out the window of her shuttle bus taking her back to the village after a training session Thursday afternoon and fell in love with the sunset in Milan. "I took pictures and wrote how pretty the suns

Feb. 20, 2026

[Graphic News] Global survey shows record 82% have positive view of Korea

More than 8 out of 10 of respondents in an international survey expressed a favorable view of Korea, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. The ministry’s 2025 Survey on Korea’s National Image showed that overall favorability rose 3.3 percentage points from the previous year to 82.3 percent, the highest level since the survey began in 2018. By region, people in the Middle East and Southeast Asia showed the strongest fondness for Korea. The United Arab Emirates ranked first at

Feb. 20, 2026

Gold-winning snowboarder Choi Ga-on suffers 3 fractures

South Korean gold medalist Choi Ga-on posted a picture to her Instagram story Thursday, revealing she sustained three fractures in the women’s snowboard halfpipe finals at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. In the post, Choi wrote “3 fractures” over a photo of her receiving a medical diagnosis. The snowboarder, 17, claimed the South Korean national team's first gold medal. She was also the youngest athlete to win the women’s halfpipe event at the Winter Olympic Games in Livigno Snow on Feb. 13,

Feb. 19, 2026

S. Korea reclaims short track glory with thrilling relay gold

The South Korean women's short track team captured gold in the 3,000-meter relay on Wednesday, ending an eight-year Olympic gold drought and delivering the nation's first short track title of the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. The quartet of Choi Min-jeong, Kim Gil-li, Noh Do-hee and Shim Suk-hee clocked a winning time of 4:04:014, marking South Korea's seventh Olympic gold in this event and reclaiming a throne they last occupied on home turf at the 2018 PyeongChang Games. The team took an early

Feb. 19, 2026

Short trackers celebrate dramatic relay gold after close call

When Kim Gil-li entered the lane as the South Korean anchor in the final of the women's 3,000-meter short track relay at the Milan-Cortina Winter Games on Wednesday night, she was trailing Arianna Fontana of Italy, the most decorated short tracker in Olympic history. With two laps remaining in the 27-lap race at Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan, all Kim wanted to do was not to fall at such a critical juncture. The athlete nicknamed "Lambor-Gilli" after the famous Italian sports car for her spee

Feb. 19, 2026

[Graphic News] Olympic first: Ski mountaineering

The 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, the 25th edition of the Winter Games, features eight sports and 16 disciplines, with 116 gold medals up for grabs, including the Olympic debut of ski mountaineering. Long practiced in the Alps, the sport was approved by the International Olympic Committee in 2019 upon lobbying by the International Ski Mountaineering Federation, which emphasized its growing global participation, sustainability and natural fit with the host region’s alpine terrain. Ski mount

Feb. 19, 2026

Short track relay team brings 2nd gold to S. Korea; curling team nears knockout berth

South Korea collected its second gold medal of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on Wednesday in short track speed skating, as the women's 3,000-meter relay team came through with the top prize. The team of Choi Min-jeong, Kim Gil-li, Noh Do-hee and Shim Suk-hee finished first in the 27-lap race, ahead of Italy and Canada, for South Korea's first short track gold medal of these Winter Games at Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan. Midway through the race, Choi nearly fell to the ice when Michelle V

Feb. 19, 2026

S. Korea captures gold in women's short track relay

South Korea captured the women's short track relay title on Wednesday for its first gold medal in the sport at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. The quartet of Choi Min-jeong, Kim Gil-li, Shim Suk-hee and Noh Do-hee finished first in the women's 3,000-meter short track relay, ahead of Italy and Canada at Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan. This was South Korea's second gold medal of this year's Winter Games, and its seventh medal overall. South Korea came into Wednesday with one silver and two b

Feb. 19, 2026

Figure skater reveals he performed on bad ankle

Five days after narrowly missing the podium in the men's singles event at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, South Korean figure skater Cha Jun-hwan revealed Wednesday he had performed on a bad ankle. After a training session for his gala show at Milano Ice Skating Arena, Cha told reporters that he still had not decided if he would compete at the world championships next month in Prague. "Actually, my body was not 100 percent," Cha said. "Over the past month, I'd been switching my skate boots qu

Feb. 18, 2026

S. Korea pounds Sweden in women's curling to inch closer to semifinals

South Korea blew out Sweden to close in on a spot in the semifinals of the women's curling tournament at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on Wednesday. Gim Eun-ji's South Korea handily beat Anna Hasselborg's Sweden 8-3 at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium in Cortina d'Ampezzo, 260 kilometers northeast of Milan. South Korea improved to 5-3 while Sweden, who had already clinched a semifinal berth, dropped to 6-2. South Korea will close out its round-robin play against Canada on Thursday with a chan

Feb. 18, 2026

Lee Hae-in in 9th place after short program in women's singles

Lee Hae-in found herself just inside the top 10 after the short program in the women's singles figure skating event at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on Tuesday. Lee scored her season-best 70.07 points at Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan to finish ninth in the short program. Lee opened her program, set to "Sirens" by Christopher Tin, with a triple lutz-triple toe loop combination. Though she appeared to land both jumps well, Lee was called for an under-rotation of her landing of the triple t

Feb. 18, 2026

S. Korean teams finish outside top 10 in 2-man bobsleigh

Both South Korean teams competing in the two-man bobsleigh at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics finished outside the top 10 on Tuesday. Pilot Kim Jin-su and brakeman Kim Hyeong-geun finished in 13th place with a time of 3:43.60 after four runs at Cortina Sliding Centre in Cortina d'Ampezzo, 260 kilometers northeast of Milan. They were 3.90 seconds behind the gold medal duo of Johannes Lochner and Georg Fleischhauer of Germany (3:39.70). The South Korean duo sat in 12th place after the first two

Feb. 18, 2026

Figure skater aims to move forward after disappointing short program

Having failed to meet her own expectations in the short program, figure skater Shin Ji-a said Tuesday she will try to put disappointment behind her to prepare for the free skate at the ongoing Winter Games. Shin earned 65.66 points in her short program of the women's singles competition at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics at Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan. It was 8.81 points below her season-best score of 74.47 from September. Shin opened her program with a clean triple lutz but fell to the

Feb. 18, 2026

Self-belief pays off for figure skater in debut

At the end of the first Olympic short program of her career Tuesday night in Milan, figure skater Lee Hae-in showed very little emotion. It was difficult to tell if she was pleased or not with her performance. The South Korean ended up getting the best short program score of the season with 70.07 points at Milano Ice Skating Arena. Make no mistake: she was quite happy with the score but she just didn't know how to react to her own performance. "I didn't think I would receive that high of a score

Feb. 18, 2026

S. Korea falls to Switzerland in women's curling

South Korea lost to Switzerland 7-5 in the women's curling tournament at the Milan-Cortina Winter Games on Tuesday for its third loss in seven matches so far. Gim Eun-ji's South Korea got the first point in the opening end at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium in Cortina d'Ampezzo, northeast of Milan, before Silvana Tirinzoni's Switzerland put up a three-spot in the second end with Alina Paetz's promotion takeout with her team's final stone. But South Korea tied the score with a point each in the t

Feb. 18, 2026