"Even Without Gold, We’re Satisfied"... The Explosive Rise of Korean Snowboarding Shocks the World [Milano Cortina 2026]

(News1) [Financial News] "Is Korea now a snowboarding powerhouse?" This is a question that can often be heard on site at the 2026 Winter Olympics Milano Cortina. Until now, South Korea’s medal haul had been heavily concentrated in ice events.
At these Games, however, the country is burning brightest on the snow. After a silver medal earned through the fighting spirit of the team’s "eldest brother," the 18-year-old "youngest" has caused a sensation.
00 points in the women’s big air final at Livigno Snow Park in Italy on the 10th Korea time, claiming the bronze medal. Yoo Seung-eun performs a trick during the women’s big air final at the 2026 Winter Olympics Milano Cortina, held at Livigno Snow Park in Italy.
She went on to win the bronze medal. (Yonhap News) It is the first Olympic medal ever won by a South Korean woman in a snow event.
Before this, the best Olympic result by a Korean woman in snowboarding was only 18th place, achieved by Jung Hae-rim at the 2022 Winter Olympics. In particular, big air was truly a barren field for Korean women, a discipline in which no Korean female athlete had even competed before.
(News1) [Financial News] "Is Korea now a snowboarding powerhouse?" This is a question that can often be heard on site at the 2026 Winter Olympics Milano Cortina. Until now, South Korea’s medal haul had been heavily concentrated in ice events.(News1) [Financial News] "Is Korea now a snowboarding powerhouse?" This is a question that can often be heard on site at the 2026 Winter Olympics Milano Cortina. Until now, South Korea’s medal haul had been heavily concentrated in ice events.
Events that were expected to be in medal contention are indeed producing medals without major upsets. On the 9th local time, in the men’s parallel giant slalom, 1989-born veteran Kim Sang-gyeom (37, High1) finally broke through on his fifth Olympic attempt to win silver, opening the floodgates.
The very next day, Yoo Seung-eun picked up the baton. What is especially encouraging is the substance behind these results.
This is the first time in history that South Korea has won two or more medals in snow events at a single edition of the Olympic Games. There is still no gold medal yet, but the fact that a medal has come from big air – an event where even reaching the final used to be a distant dream – proves that the depth and competitiveness of Korean snowboarding have risen to a world-class level.
Even the results so far more than meet, and arguably exceed, pre-Games expectations. Kim Sang-gyeom, who won silver in the parallel giant slalom.
(News1) [Financial News] "Is Korea now a snowboarding powerhouse?" This is a question that can often be heard on site at the 2026 Winter Olympics Milano Cortina. Until now, South Korea’s medal haul had been heavily concentrated in ice events.(News1) [Financial News] "Is Korea now a snowboarding powerhouse?" This is a question that can often be heard on site at the 2026 Winter Olympics Milano Cortina. Until now, South Korea’s medal haul had been heavily concentrated in ice events.
(Yonhap News) Chaeun Lee, a double champion at the Asian Winter Games.
(Yonhap News) The momentum is there.
What remains is the crowning touch: a gold medal.
(News1) [Financial News] "Is Korea now a snowboarding powerhouse?" This is a question that can often be heard on site at the 2026 Winter Olympics Milano Cortina. Until now, South Korea’s medal haul had been heavily concentrated in ice events.(News1) [Financial News] "Is Korea now a snowboarding powerhouse?" This is a question that can often be heard on site at the 2026 Winter Olympics Milano Cortina. Until now, South Korea’s medal haul had been heavily concentrated in ice events.
(News1) [Financial News] "Is Korea now a snowboarding powerhouse?" This is a question that can often be heard on site at the 2026 Winter Olympics Milano Cortina. Until now, South Korea’s medal haul had been heavily concentrated in ice events.(News1) [Financial News] "Is Korea now a snowboarding powerhouse?" This is a question that can often be heard on site at the 2026 Winter Olympics Milano Cortina. Until now, South Korea’s medal haul had been heavily concentrated in ice events.
(News1) [Financial News] "Is Korea now a snowboarding powerhouse?" This is a question that can often be heard on site at the 2026 Winter Olympics Milano Cortina. Until now, South Korea’s medal haul had been heavily concentrated in ice events.(News1) [Financial News] "Is Korea now a snowboarding powerhouse?" This is a question that can often be heard on site at the 2026 Winter Olympics Milano Cortina. Until now, South Korea’s medal haul had been heavily concentrated in ice events.
On the men’s side, there is also halfpipe rider Chaeun Lee.
Yoo Seung-eun’s bronze is more than just a third-place finish.
It is a signal flare announcing the full arrival of a golden generation in South Korean snow sports, led by athletes born in the 2000s.
If they can deliver news of gold in the remaining events, South Korea is expected to redraw its place on the world sports map – no longer just an ice powerhouse, but an undisputed winter sports nation and a confident snowboarding powerhouse as well.
jsi@fnnews.com Jeon Sang-il Reporter