17-Year-Old Choi Gaon Wins Gold in Women's Snowboarding Halfpipe

The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics in Livigno Snow Park are well underway, bringing out familiar and new faces, all fighting for a chance at gold.

In the highly anticipated women's halfpipe competition, a new leader emerged — 17-year-old Choi Gaon of South Korea — upsetting three-peat hopeful USA’s Chloe Kim.

Choi Gaon Wins Gold

All competitors have three tries to make the best score.

In her first run, Choi showed incredible air but crashed hard after clipping her board on the edge of the halfpipe wall.

The halfpipe walls are 22 feet tall, and a miscalculation can mean a hard, two-story fall. The medical team was called in to assess for injuries.

She received a score of 10 points for her first run.

Choi was able to get back on her feet and continue the competition.

On her second attempt, after a promising start, she fell again, resulting in a DNI (“Did Not Improve”) score.

However, the third time was the charm.

Choi opted for a 900 and a 720 instead of a 1080 and landed her third run cleanly. The confident performance earned a score of 90.25, overtaking Kim’s leading score of 88.

In the three-peat hopeful’s third run, she fell and was unable to improve her score, dropping her to second place and earning silver.

It was a dramatic three runs for Choi, who, despite an early crash, bounced back from scores of 10 and a DNI to 90.25, making her the leader in this year's women halfpipe competition.

In addition to becoming the sport’s youngest gold-winning snowboarder, Choi’s victory also earned South Korea its first gold medal in skiing and snowboarding — and the country’s first gold of the 2026 Winter Games.

Choi Defeats Her Mentor

After Kim fell, she gave Choi a warm hug as she celebrated with her family and team.

The competitors — Choi and Kim — have known each other for nearly a decade.

"Chloe's dad did a lot of mentoring to my dad," Choi told AP News. "I didn't know much because I was young, but Chloe's dad gave my dad a lot of advice. It made me who I am today."

Kim and her dad even helped bring Choi to the U.S. to train at California’s Mammoth Mountain and remained supportive of the budding snowboarder.

Choi is now the same age Kim was in 2018, when she became the youngest woman to win an Olympic snowboarding medal.