Livigno, Italy, February 12, 2026: Korean teenager Choi Gaon recovered from a heavy crash in her first run to win gold in the women’s snowboard halfpipe at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games on Thursday, February 12.
Choi, just 17, earned Korea’s first gold medal of these Winter Olympics and, in so doing, denied American favourite Chloe Kim of a hat-trick of Olympic golds in this event following her success at PyeongChang 2018 and Beijing 2022.
Choi’s fall in run one was the scariest moment of a women’s halfpipe final that had a few of them, as the 12 riders pushed their limits in the Livigno Snow Park pipe. With the full medical crew deployed, it seemed for certain that Choi’s quest to stop Kim’s gold medal streak was over. However, Choi elected to ride out of the pipe under her own power and was attended to by team doctors outside the finish area.
Defending champion Kim scored 88.00 in her first run before the Korean youngster washed out again on her second run. In her third and final run, and with the odds stacked against her, Choi produced a golden performance to score 90.25 and become the first Korean snowboard champion in Olympic Winter Games history.
“During the final, mentally it was so tough. But right now, I am the happiest. My knees are a bit bad, but I feel like I'm overcoming it all with happiness,” said Choi, who has been on the World Cup circuit for three seasons and heads the current standings after three wins in three starts. Choi described the outcome as “the kind of story you only see in dreams”.
Mitsuki Ono of Japan scored 85.00 to claim bronze, as Japan extended their snowboarding success at Milano 2026. Ono added Olympic bronze to her third places at the last two editions of the World Championships in 2025 and 2023.
“I just am really happy to get the medal with amazing girls,” Ono said. "They push me a lot, they inspire me. I’m just so happy.”
In an impressive showing by Asian athletes, Sara Shimizu (Japan) was fourth with 84.0, Rise Kudo (Japan) came fifth with 81.75, China’s Xuetong was sixth on 80.75 and teammate Wu Shaotong seventh on 78.00. A fourth Japanese rider, Sena Tomita, finished ninth on 68.25.