South Korean teenage sensation Gaon Choi returned from a first-run crash to spoil her mentor Chloe Kim‘s Olympic halfpipe three-peat Thursday night in an epic snowboard shocker under the lights and snow flurries of Italy at the 2026 Winter Games.
Choi fell hard in her opening run after clipping the pipe deck on a cab 1080 attempt, then fell again on her second run, landing low on an initial switch backside 900 hit. But in her final run, she threw down a massive rebate with a 90.25 to overtake Kim for the lead.
“I cried because I thought I wouldn’t be able to compete,” Choi said. “But the thought kept coming back to me: ‘You can do this. You have to go on’ [and] that’s what pushed me forward.”
Kim, riding with an injured shoulder, had a chance to reclaim the crown as the competition’s final rider, but landed a little low and fell on a cab double cork 1080 — a trick she’d hit twice earlier in the night — to finish with 88.00 for silver.
Immediately after her final run, Kim found Choi and gave her a big hug.
“I’ve known Gaon since she was little,” Kim said. “She won her first Olympic gold medal at the same age as I did. It’s such a full-circle moment.”
Japan placed 3rd through 5th, with Mitsuki Ono scoring an 85.00 to take home bronze, one point ahead of teammate Sara Shimizu. Meanwhile, Kim’s teammates Bea Kim (no relation) and Maddie Mastro wound up 8th and 12th.
Choi is the first South Korean woman to win an Olympic snowboarding gold. At 17 years, 101 days old, she’s also the youngest snowboarding Games champion, breaking American Red Gerard‘s mark of 17 years, 227 days.
“It’s the kind of story you only see in dreams, so I’m incredibly happy it happened today,” Choi said.