Teen Choi Stuns Kim to Win Olympic Halfpipe Gold
Seventeen-year-old Choi Ga-on delivered one of the moments of the Milan-Cortina Winter Games by denying Chloe Kim a historic third consecutive Olympic halfpipe gold.
It seemed set to be a coronation for Kim, widely regarded as the greatest women’s halfpipe rider in history. Instead, it was the South Korean teenager who stood atop the podium, completing what Kim later described as a «full circle moment».
Choi recovered from a heavy fall on her opening run to produce a superb final attempt worth 90.25 points, a score the 25-year-old American could not match. Kim, competing with a shoulder brace after dislocating her shoulder and tearing her labrum in training last month, fell on her final run and had to settle for silver.
From protégé to champion
The two riders first met nine years ago at a test event before the Pyeongchang Games, where Kim, then also 17, announced herself on the world stage with her first Olympic title. Recognising Choi’s potential, Kim and her father helped her travel to the United States to train.
«She’s someone I’ve known since she was little,» Kim said. «It’s such a full circle moment seeing her from when she was so young to now standing next to her on the Olympic podium.»
Choi’s rise has long been predicted. In 2023, aged 14, she won X Games superpipe gold to become the youngest champion in the event’s history, breaking Kim’s record. That same year she claimed victory in her first World Cup appearance before a fractured back cut her season short.
This winter she underlined her credentials by winning every World Cup event she entered ahead of the Games.
Drama in the final
Choi scraped through qualification in sixth place, while Kim led the field with 90.25 points, the exact mark that would ultimately secure gold.
The final nearly unravelled for the teenager when she crashed heavily on her first run, hitting the icy lip of the pipe and falling into its centre. She lay still for several moments as snow fell steadily, before rising to continue.
On her third run she produced a spellbinding performance that left the crowd gasping and her coach in tears.
«It’s the kind of story you only see in dreams, so I’m incredibly happy,» Choi said. «During the final, mentally it was so tough. But right now I am the happiest.»
She later admitted she had considered withdrawing after her fall. «I cried because I thought I wouldn’t be able to compete. But the thought kept coming back to me: ‘You can do this. You have to go on.’ That’s what pushed me forward.»
Kim’s pride despite silver
Kim, an eight-time X Games champion, had looked on course for gold after scoring 88.00 on her opening run. Watched by Team USA’s honorary coach Snoop Dogg and snowboarding legend Shaun White, she appeared composed despite her shoulder injury.
But Choi’s final score piled the pressure on the American, whose fall on her last attempt confirmed she would leave these Games with silver for the first time.
Japan’s Mitsuki Ono claimed bronze with 85.00.
Kim, who will undergo shoulder surgery, said she was proud of her performance.
«There was a lot of conversation about me, but honestly I’m just so glad I was able to get here,» she said. «I think this one might mean more than the others. I feel like I really gave it my all. This is so satisfying to me.»
Kursiv also reports that Italian short track legend Arianna Fontana extended her historic Olympic run on Thursday (12 February), claiming a silver medal in the women’s 500m at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
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