"She has silver and bronze, now it's time for gold!" Prodigy Choi Ga-on takes aim at Chloe Kim tonight

[Financial News] "In the end, is snowboard the only thing we can truly rely on?"
At the start of this tournament, the driving force behind Team Korea has not been the cold ice rink but the steep snowy slopes — snowboard. Veteran Kim Sang-gyeom opened the campaign with a silver medal, and fearless youngster Yoo Seung-eun followed up with bronze. Silver and bronze are already in the bag. Now only one thing remains: a gold medal shining from the very top of the podium.
To complete that final piece of the puzzle, world No. 1 and "snowboard prodigy" Choi Ga-on of Sehwa Girls' High School is finally set to take off. At 6:30 p.m. on the 11th (Korea time), she will compete in the women's halfpipe qualifying round for the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics at Livigno Snowpark in Italy, attempting her first jump toward legend.


The biggest storyline of this event is unquestionably the clash of the old and new queens. Chloe Kim of the United States, the "empress of the halfpipe" chasing a third straight Olympic gold, will face her only true challenger, Choi Ga-on, in a head‐to‐head battle.
Chloe Kim is a legend who needs no introduction. She conquered both Pyeongchang and Beijing, building a wall so high that no one seemed capable of scaling it. But cracks have begun to appear. She injured her shoulder during training last month and has not been able to fully compete on the World Cup circuit this season.



She insists she is "confident," but her lack of recent competition and the lingering effects of injury remain significant unknowns.
Choi Ga-on, by contrast, is riding an unstoppable wave of momentum. Born in 2008, she is only 19 by Korean age, yet her skills have already taken over the world stage. She burst onto the scene by winning the prestigious X Games in 2023, and this season alone she has swept three victories on the World Cup tour to sit atop the rankings. There may never be a better moment to hunt down the "wounded tiger" Chloe Kim.
The mood within the team could not be better. Medals from the men's parallel giant slalom and the women's big air have sent the snowboard squad's morale soaring. A sense of "we can do this too" has spread throughout the entire delegation.



Halfpipe is an event where riders go back and forth on a sloped, U‐shaped course, performing aerial tricks. Spectacular technique, amplitude, and nerves of steel are all essential.
Only the top 12 riders from qualifying will advance to the final on the 13th, where they will battle for the medals.
Today's qualifying round is far from a simple feeling‐out session.
For Choi Ga-on, it is a preliminary showdown in which she must showcase her form in front of Chloe Kim and seize the psychological upper hand. The question is whether Choi can deliver the first gold medal in Korean snowboard history — and the first gold for Team Korea at this tournament.
The snowy slopes of Milan are holding their breath. A new queen is ready to spread her wings.


jsi@fnnews.com Jeon Sang-il Reporter