Young Blood Delivers: Injured Choi Ga-on and Comeback Queen Kim Gil-li Inspire with Emotional Races [2026 Milan]

The South Korean national team delegation, which had set a goal of three gold medals and a top-10 finish in the overall medal table, wrapped up 16 days of competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo with what can be called a partial success.
As of the 22nd, South Korea had claimed three gold, four silver and three bronze medals to place 13th in the overall standings. The team narrowly surpassed its performance at the previous Games, the 2022 Winter Olympics (two gold, five silver, two bronze, 14th place), but fell just short of its target of breaking into the top 10. Even so, regardless of medal colors or final ranking, the Taegeuk warriors delivered inspiring performances on ice and snow. In particular, teenagers and athletes in their early 20s took center stage, clearly signaling a bright future for Korean winter sports.
The most striking achievement for the South Korean delegation at these Games was undoubtedly the surge in skiing and snowboarding. Until now, the country’s entire medal haul in these events consisted of a single silver by Lee Sang-ho at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang. In Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, however, South Korea swept one gold, one silver and one bronze in snow events alone.
At the heart of that breakthrough was Choi Ga-on of the women’s snowboard halfpipe from Sehwa Girls’ High School. In her third and final run of the final, Choi delivered a near-flawless performance worth 90.25 points to dethrone the United States’ Chloe Kim, who scored 88.00 points and was aiming for a third straight Olympic title. It was the first-ever Winter Olympic gold medal in Korean skiing history, and it also rewrote Chloe Kim’s previous record as the youngest Olympic champion, with Choi winning at 17 years and 3 months. Her gutsy decision to compete despite having three broken bones in her hand drew admiration from around the world.
On top of that, Kim Sang-gyeom of High1 took silver in the men’s snowboard alpine, and Yu Seung-eun of Seongbok High School grabbed bronze in the women’s big air. Together, they built a landmark achievement: the first time in Korean skiing and snowboarding history that the country has won multiple medals at a single Olympic Games.
Short track speed skating, a traditional medal-winning event for South Korea, overturned the gloomy outlook that had surrounded the team before the Games. A controversial attempt to overhaul the coaching staff and the rapid improvement of foreign teams had led many to predict a brutal medal race, and the squad even suffered a disastrous crash in the mixed 2,000-meter relay, the first event on the schedule.
But the national team did not waver. Youngest member Kim Gil-li of Seongnam City Hall claimed bronze in the women’s 1,000 meters and gold in the 1,500 meters, then anchored a thrilling come-from-behind victory in the women’s 3,000-meter relay. She finished the Games as the delegation’s only double gold medalist.
Short track star Choi Min-jeong of Seongnam City Hall added a silver in the 1,500 meters and a gold in the relay, bringing her career Olympic medal tally to seven. Having set a new record for the most Olympic medals won by a South Korean athlete, she announced her honorable retirement at the conclusion of these Games.
The men’s side also held its own. Lim Jong-won of Goyang City Hall earned bronze in the 1,000 meters, while Hwang Dae-heon of the Gangwon Provincial Government took silver in the 1,500 meters. The team then added another silver in the 5,000-meter relay, preserving South Korea’s pride as a short track powerhouse through a blend of veterans and rising stars.
There were also events that ended in disappointment and had to be deferred to the future. In the men’s figure skating singles, Cha Jun-hwan of Seoul City Hall delivered a delicate and beautiful program to score a total of 273.92 points, finishing fourth — the best Olympic result ever by a Korean skater. He missed the bronze, won by Japan’s Shun Sato with 274.90 points, by a mere 0.98 points.
The women’s curling team, which had drawn considerable attention, lost to Canada in its final round-robin match and finished fifth overall. Only the top four teams advanced to the semifinals, meaning South Korea missed out on the knockout stage by the narrowest of margins.
Meanwhile, speed skating, which had long shared the role of medal gold mine with short track, suffered a bitter outcome: for the first time since the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, South Korea failed to win a single Olympic medal in the sport. After this painful slump, the team now faces the heavy challenge of carrying out a full-scale generational change as it looks ahead to the next four years.
jsi@fnnews.com Jeon Sang-il Reporter