South Korean snowboarder Choi Ga On (Sehwa High School) advanced to the women’s halfpipe final at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.
Choi scored 82.25 points in qualifying Tuesday at Livigno Snow Park in Italy, placing sixth among 24 riders. The top 12 advanced.
Qualifying consisted of two runs, with each athlete’s best score counting. Halfpipe is judged on aerial tricks performed on a sloped, semicylindrical course.
Choi posted her 82.25 in the first run, opening with a switch backside 720 and linking multiple tricks. She tried a higher-difficulty second run, attempting a three-rotation move after a jump of up to 4.2 meters, but lost balance on the final landing, leaving her first-run score as her qualifier.
Choi has emerged as a top prospect. She won the pipe event at the X Games in 2023 and has three wins on the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) Snowboard World Cup this 2025-2026 season, leading the women’s halfpipe standings.
To medal, she will likely have to beat Chloe Kim of the United States, the Olympic champion in 2018 in Pyeongchang and 2022 in Beijing. A gold in this event would give Kim three straight Olympic titles.
Kim led qualifying with 90.25 points. Despite a shoulder injury that limited her World Cup season, she landed high-difficulty tricks including a three-rotation move and a McTwist, the only rider to score in the 90s.
Sara Shimizu of Japan was second with 87.5, followed by Maddie Mastro of the United States (86), Riese Kudo of Japan (84.75) and Cai Xuetong of China (83).
Another South Korean entrant, Lee Na Yoon (Kyung Hee University), scored 35 in her first run after losing balance on a landing. She felt knee pain during the attempt and did not start the second run, finishing 22nd and missing the final.
The final is set for 3:30 a.m. Friday (Korean time) at Livigno Snow Park. Unlike qualifying, the final will be contested over three runs, with the best score determining the standings.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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