Youth Olympics Korean Winter Sports that Raise Hope
Youth Olympics Korean Winter Sports that Raise Hope... I"m Looking Forward to 2026
Shin Ji-ah and Kim Hyun-gyeom in figure skating gain valuable experience and make a leap forward, and "new signboards" such as sledding Soh Jae-hwan and snowboarding Chae-un Lee are recognized.
Korean winter sports stars, who dreamed of watching the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics on TV, began to soar through the 2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics (hereinafter referred to as Gangwon 2024).
Korean teenage athletes unleashed their dreams at Gangwon 2024 held in Seolwon and Eunban, Gangwon-do, revealing the future of Korean winter sports.
Promising players who have gained valuable experience unanimously pledged to use this competition as a stepping stone to achieve results at the Senior Winter Olympics to be held two years later.
Snowboarding star Lee Chae-woon (Suri High School) lived up to expectations by winning a gold medal despite various unexpected factors.
Lee Chae-un, the next-generation star in men"s snowboarding, comfortably won the men"s slope start, his first event held on the 25th of last month, beating his competitors by a large margin.
In fact, slope starts are not Lee Chae-woon’s main sport.
However, there was no player who could follow Chaewoon Lee.
Lee Chae-woon injured his left ankle during training the next day and was unable to achieve his goal of winning three gold medals, but he showed off his overwhelming skills and raised expectations for a medal at the 2026 Milan/Cortina d"Ampezzo Winter Olympics.
Women"s halfpipe star Choi Ga-on (Sehwa Girls" Middle School), who was expected to lead the snowboarding medal hunt with Lee Chae-woon, unfortunately did not participate.
He injured his back right before the start of the competition and postponed his Olympic medal until 2026.
Hope was also found in sledding, which had not achieved much success since Yoon Seong-bin won the gold medal at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
Jae-Hwan Jae (Sangji Daegwallyeong High School) won the gold medal in the men"s bobsleigh monobob (single-person) competition, beating his competitors by a long distance with a total time of 1 minute 48.63 seconds in the first and second periods.
Jaehwan Sohwan, a former track and field shot put athlete who switched to skeleton in his third year of middle school, is evaluated as having both strength and speed, and has grown into the next generation"s star through various international competitions.
A surprising prospect was born in freestyle skiing, which is considered a wasteland of Korean sports.
Lee Yun-seung (Song Gok-go) took the top spot in the men"s freestyle skiing dual mogul finals, beating Huff Porter (USA) 18-17.
He also won two medals in this competition, including winning a silver medal in the dual mogul mixed team competition with Yoon Shin-i (Bongpyeong High School).
Next-generation stars have emerged in the "biggest sports" short track and speed skating.
Joo Jae-hee (Han Gwanggo) won the gold medal in the short track men"s 1,500m final with a time of 2 minutes 21.906 seconds, beating China"s Zhang Xin-je (2 minutes 22.095 seconds).
Korea was initially expected to sweep multiple gold medals in short track, but the athletes were unable to overcome the pressure and tension and made repeated mistakes, resulting in performance below expectations.
However, through this competition, the players gained valuable experience and laid the foundation for a leap forward.
A short-distance ice speed star has also emerged, following in the footsteps of Lee Sang-hwa and Kim Min-seon (Uijeongbu City Hall).
Jeong Hee-dan (Seonsago) took second place in the women"s 500m speed skating with a time of 39.64 seconds, following Angel Dahlemann (39.28, Netherlands).
Figure skating women"s single Jia Shin (Youngdong Middle School) won a silver medal after fierce competition with her "rival" Mao Shimada (Japan).
He experienced the tension and pressure of the Olympic stage in advance and received the "vaccination shot" properly.
Ji-ah Shin made a big mistake in the free skating, including blowing one spin assignment due to a rotation problem, but she did not lose confidence, saying, "Today"s mistake will be a great nutrient."
Kim Yu-seong (Pyeongchon Middle School), who competed with Shin Ji-ah, and the ice dance team of Kim Ji-ni and Lee Na-mu (Gyeonggi Provincial Skating Federation) each took 4th place.
Men"s singles Kim Hyun-gyeom (Han Gwang-go) proudly won the gold medal and established himself as the next generation player to succeed Cha Jun-hwan (Korea University).