South Korean snowboard prospect Lee Chae Woon of Kyung Hee University has reached the Olympic men’s halfpipe final, a first for South Korea in the event.
Lee scored 82 points on Wednesday in qualifying at Livigno Snow Park in Livigno, Italy, placing ninth among 25 riders at the 2026 Milano-Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics.
The result put him into the final reserved for the top 12. It is the first time since Kim Ho Jun’s debut at the 2010 Vancouver Games that South Korea will have finalists in both halfpipe events, with Lee and women’s rider Choi Ga On of Sehwa High School advancing.
Lee earned his score on his first run, landing a series that included consecutive four-rotation spins and a high-difficulty grab. He could not improve on his second run after a mistake, but his first-run score was enough to advance.
Lee competed at the 2022 Beijing Olympics as South Korea’s youngest national team member and was eliminated in qualifying in 18th. Four years later, he has moved into the final and will chase a medal.
Teammate Lee Ji O of Yangpyeong High School narrowly missed out. After an error on his first run, he scored 74 on his second but finished 13th, 1.5 points behind 12th-place Jake Pates of the United States (75.5). Asian Games gold medalist Kim Geon Hee of Siheung Maehwa High School was eliminated after mistakes on both runs.
Scotty James of Australia led qualifying with 94 points. Japan’s Yuto Totsuka was second with 91.25, followed by Ryusei Yamada with 90.25.
Lee will try to win South Korea’s first men’s snowboard medal in the final, scheduled for 3:30 a.m. Friday (Korea time).
* This article has been translated by AI.
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