Choi Gaon: Profile of the Winter Olympics Women's Snowboarding Gold Winner

Liputan6.com, Jakarta - Choi Gaon, a 17-year-old snowboarder from South Korea, made history at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.

She won the gold medal in the women's halfpipe event on Thursday evening, February 12, 2026, at Livigno Snow Park.

This victory not only made her the first Korean female athlete to win an Olympic medal in a snow sport, but also the youngest gold medalist in Olympic snowboarding history, at the age of 17 years and 101 days, breaking the previous record held by Red Gerard.

She outperformed two-time defending Olympic champion Chloe Kim of the United States, her inspiration and mentor.

“In the US and other countries, snowboard halfpipe is quite well-known, but not in Korea,” she told Olympics.com ahead of the Winter Olympics in Italy.

“I want to introduce this sport more to my country through my performance at this Olympics. I also believe that enjoying the Games is just as important as achieving good results."

Gaon Choi of South Korea overcame a nasty fall on her first run to take Gold in the Women’s Snowboard Halfpipe, denying Chloe Kim of Team USA an Olympic three-peat at the Milano Cortina Winter Games.📸: @patricksmith04, Hannah Peters, Cameron Spencer #MilanoCortina2026 pic.twitter.com/geRvZTfjVk

— Getty Images Sport (@GettySport) February 12, 2026

The women's halfpipe final at Livigno Snow Park witnessed a fierce battle between the world's best athletes.

Choi Gaon, who suffered a serious fall on her first run, recorded an impressive score of 90.25, placing her in first place.

This score surpassed the score of Chloe Kim, the defending champion and two-time Olympic gold medal winner.

Kim, known as Gaon's idol and mentor, failed to secure a three-peat after falling on her final attempt.

This cemented Gaon's position as the gold medalist at the 2026 Winter Olympics in women's snowboarding halfpipe.

The moment was especially emotional as Gaon defeated her idol, a rare occurrence at the Olympics.

“I began snowboarding as a child after watching Chloe, so it is a great honour for me to compete at the Olympics alongside her. Competing with her just makes me so happy, as Chloe is my idol.”

Kim's failure to win a third consecutive gold medal also ended her bid to become the first snowboarder to win three consecutive Olympic gold medals in a single competition. 

Choi Gaon, born on November 3, 2008, is a 17-year-old South Korean snowboarder.

Her career began at the age of seven, when she first met Chloe Kim at the 2017 PyeongChang Olympic trials.

Since then, Kim and her father have played a significant role in helping Gaon train with the Mammoth Mountain development team in the United States, becoming her mentor and role model.

Before winning the gold medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics women's snowboarding halfpipe, Gaon had already achieved numerous impressive achievements. 

She won gold at the 2022 FIS World Junior Championships in halfpipe.

Furthermore, at the 27th Winter X Games in 2023, she won the SuperPipe gold medal at the age of 14, breaking Chloe Kim's record as the youngest X Games halfpipe gold medalist.

Her dominance was also evident in the FIS Snowboard World Cup.

Gaon won her senior World Cup debut at Copper Mountain in December 2023 at the age of 15.

She then continued his impressive form by capturing three halfpipe World Cup titles in the 2025-2026 season, including at Copper Mountain (December 2025), Secret Garden (December 2025), and the Laax Open (January 2026).

In her winning run at the Olympics, she displayed a combination of high-level tricks such as a switch backside 900 mute, a switch frontside 720 drunk driver, a frontside 900 melon, a backside 900 stalefish, and a frontside 720 frontside grab.