"My dream matters more than the color of the medal"... An 18-year-old’s all-out charge for gold, and a glorious failure [2026 Milano]

[Financial News] She never bothered to do the math. Talking about possible scenarios was, to her, nothing more than an excuse for cowards.
For Yoo Seung-eun (18, Seongbok High School), the beating heart of South Korean snowboarding, there was no such thing as compromise. The moment she hurled herself into the Livigno night sky, the color of the medal no longer mattered. What remained on the snow was only the sheer human will to defy gravity.
On February 10 (Korea time), at the women’s snowboard big air final of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina, held at Livigno Snow Park in Italy, Yoo Seung-eun finished third overall and claimed the bronze medal.
It was the first Olympic medal in the history of Korean snowboarding, and also the first time a Korean woman had ever reached an Olympic final in the discipline.


But what captured the world’s attention that day was not the bronze medal around her neck. It was the wild, all-or-nothing gamble she took on her final, third run.
Here is how it unfolded. After the second run, Yoo Seung-eun was in a commanding first place.
Then world No. 1 Murase Kokomo of Japan and New Zealand’s winter Olympic star Zoi Sadowski-Synnott unleashed huge scores in the third and fourth runs, turning the standings on their head.
For Yoo, the decisive moment came on her last, third run. She was already guaranteed at least a bronze. If she chose a slightly easier trick and landed it cleanly, she had a realistic shot at moving up to silver.

To overtake Sadowski-Synnott, she needed to score just over 85 points. Eighty-five is a high score, but based on her 83.5-point second run, she only needed a slightly cleaner landing to get there.
Most athletes in that situation would choose to minimize mistakes, land safely, and climb one more step on the podium. That is the usual choice.
But the 18-year-old gambler in Yoo Seung-eun shook her head. Her eyes were not on silver. They were fixed only on the very top, on gold. To surpass Murase in first place, she needed an extraordinary score of at least 89.
"Go Big or Go Home."
Without hesitation, Yoo Seung-eun strapped onto her board. She went for the most difficult trick she could do—no, beyond even that, she pushed her own limits. She needed as many as four full rotations in the air, with the same massive distance that Murase had shown. Twisting and spinning in midair, she dreamed of a golden landing.
The result was a fall. She got the rotations around, but lost her balance on the landing and tumbled across the snow.
No score was recorded for her third run, and her overall position was confirmed as third place.

Yet there were no tears on her face after the failed attempt. Brushing the snow off, Yoo Seung-eun adjusted her helmet and broke into a bright smile.
It was a confident grin that seemed to shout, "See that? I went for it without flinching!" The stands, packed with fans, rose to their feet and applauded her courage, regardless of the color of her medal.
Over the past year, she never let go of her snowboard, even as she endured a broken ankle, a dislocated elbow, and a shattered wrist. A relentless fighter, her fierce competitive spirit burned brightest in the final moments of the Olympic big air final.
An 18-year-old who chose the dangerous path to gold over the safe path to silver—her beautiful gamble. She may have missed out on the gold medal, but Yoo Seung-eun showed us, with her whole body, what the Olympics are and what true challenge means.
She lost a silver medal, but what she gained was the respect of the world. Yoo Seung-eun’s life in snowboarding has only just taken its first jump.
jsi@fnnews.com Jeon Sang-il Reporter