South Korea hails 'miracle' Choi after teen's landmark Olympic gold

The 17-year-old recovered from a horror crash to dethrone the United States' two-time defending champion Chloe Kim in the halfpipe on Thursday in Italy. 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. Multiple South Korean newspapers carried headlines that dubbed Choi the nation's "miracle girl". President Lee Jae Myung said her performance had written a "new chapter in the history of South Korean snowboarding".