South Korea celebrated snowboarding sensation Choi Gaon as a "miracle girl" and history-maker on Friday after soaring to the country's first Olympic gold in the sport. Choi is the first athlete from South Korea to win an Olympic gold medal in snow sports and it was also the nation's first gold at the 2026 Winter Games.

Korea's Gaon Choi, 17, rebounded from a hard fall to win gold — and end her role model's historic bid for three in a row in the Winter Olympic halfpipe.

Choi Gaon, a South Korean athlete, has secured a gold medal in the women's halfpipe snowboard at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, leaving behind her mentor and idol, Chloe Kim. On Thursday, February 12, South Korea secured their first gold medal, and the 17-year-old snatched the honour after taking a nasty fall.

Choi Ga-on, Sehwa Girls' High School, has achieved the historic feat of winning South Korea's first-ever Winter Olympic gold medal in skiing. Amid this accomplishment, broadcast footage of her past appearance with her family is being revisited.

A Buddhist monk has drawn international attention after South Korea won landmark Olympic snowboard medals, capping decades of his support for young athletes in a sport long unpopular at home. Snowboarding has long failed to gain popularity in South Korea,

"Amid pressing international conflicts, the Olympics is one of the most significant geopolitical events of the year."

LIVIGNO, Italy (AP) — Some might say the seeds of an Olympic-sized surprise in snowboarding were planted a month ago. That’s when Chloe Kim went skittering down a halfpipe in Switzerland, smashing her shoulder and turning her run for a third straight gold medal into a less-than-perfect scramble.

It was a busy Day 6 of the Winter Olympic Games in Milan Cortina as Chloe Kim and Breezy Johnson went for gold and the fallout of the Ukrainian slider disqualification continued.

Chinese snowboarder Liu Jiayu had a scary crash on Wednesday during the Olympics and was rushed to the hospital.

Brignone shrugged off difficult, foggy conditions to win her fourth career Olympic medal and become, at 35, the oldest female gold medalist in women’s Alpine skiing. Romane Miradoli of France took silver, and Cornelia Huetter of Austria got bronze.

Two South Korean Olympic skiers were caught using an illegal substance on their equipment, leading to their disqualification.