Snowboarder Lee Chae-un celebrates after completing his third run in the men’s halfpipe final at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics at the Livigno Snow Park in Italy on Feb. 13. [NEWS1]
Despite a solid run, snowboarder Lee Chae-un left the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics without a medal on Friday in the men’s halfpipe final held at the Livigno Snow Park, Italy.
The 19-year-old placed sixth with 87.50 points, losing his footing twice but eventually landing his signature frontside triple cork 1620 trick involving three inverted flips and four-and-a-half rotations.
“I am proud of myself for becoming the first person in the world to successfully land the frontside triple cork 1620. I feel relieved. I’m just glad I stayed uninjured and was able to land it cleanly,” he told reporters on site shortly after the finals.
In the first of three runs, Lee fell while attempting a frontside triple cork 1620. He altered his composition in the second, but under-rotated on the landing and came down on his heels. With his back against the wall, Lee delivered a clean performance in the final run, successfully landing all his tricks, though it wasn’t enough to carry him to the podium.
The gold medal went to Yuto Totsuka of Japan, silver to Scotty James of Australia and bronze to Ryusei Yamada also of Japan.
Halfpipe is a subcategory of snowboarding performed on a U-shaped ramp. Athletes showcase aerial tricks by launching themselves from one side to the other, judged on height, difficulty, execution and overall flow.
Lee Chae-un competes in the third run of the men’s halfpipe final at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics at the Livigno Snow Park in Italy on Feb. 13. [NEWS1]
Lee’s journey as a professional athlete has been one of evolution.
He reportedly began snowboarding at the age of 6 with a toy board his father had bought him. At 15, he competed at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, placing 18th in the men’s snowboard halfpipe event. He was the youngest athlete on Team Korea at the Games.
Though the result fell short of expectations, the experience gave him his first taste of competition on the sport’s biggest stage. He went on to make history in 2023, becoming Korea’s first-ever snowboard halfpipe world champion at the FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding World Championships, organized by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation — and the youngest champion in the event’s history.
Lee Chae-un competes in the 2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympic Games’ halfpipe category on Feb. 1, 2024, at the Welli Hilli Park Ski Resort in Hoengseong County, Gangwon. [YONHAP]
“I can’t believe this moment. My mind is blown,” Lee told broadcasters at the time. “It’s a dream come true.”
The snowboarder added to his momentum at the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games, winning two gold medals in halfpipe and slopestyle, where athletes board downhill and perform tricks on various structures dotting the slope.
“I won gold at the world championships and medals in the World Cup series. But this Youth Olympics gold makes me feel like I’ve come a bit closer to winning an Olympic medal,” Lee was quoted as saying by Olympics.com.
Lee Chae-un poses for a commemorative photo after winning gold in the 2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympic Games’ halfpipe category on Feb. 1, 2024, at the Welli Hilli Park Ski Resort in Hoengseong County, Gangwon. [YONHAP]
He also won gold in slopestyle at the Harbin 2025 Asian Winter Games on Feb. 8. His main event, the halfpipe, was decided on qualification scores after the finals were canceled due to severe weather, leaving him without a medal in that discipline.
The podium at Harbin capped a comeback for Lee after he suffered a torn meniscus in August 2024. He underwent surgery the following March, forcing him to sit out much of the international circuit season that year. But he returned to the slopes just months later, and in November — during a training camp in Switzerland — made headlines by becoming the first snowboarder in history to land a frontside triple cork 1620, a trick involving three inverted flips and four-and-a-half rotations.
More than a display of difficulty, the move was widely seen as a potential game-changer in Olympic scoring, making him one of the Korean athletes in medal discussions for the 2026 Winter Games.
The snowboarder has compared the moment he stuck the landing on the historic trick to figure skating legend Kim Yuna’s iconic jumps.
“Recall [figure skater] Kim Yuna landing a quadruple axel,” Lee said during an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo on Nov. 27 of last year. “Even before she had tried it, I felt calm and thought, ‘She will make it.’”
Snowboarders Kim Geon-hee, and Lee Chae-un, who won gold in the men’s snowboard halfpipe at the Harbin Winter Asian Games, pose for a commemorative photo on Feb. 13, 2025, at Yabuli Ski Resort, China. [YONHAP]
Lee is currently a student at Kyung Hee University’s College of Physical Education.
Korea has traditionally excelled in ice sports such as short track speed skating and speed skating at the Winter Olympics, while snow disciplines remained largely undeveloped. Before snowboarder Choi Ga-on’s gold on Thursday, the country’s best Olympic result in snowboarding was the silver medal won by Lee Sang-ho in parallel giant slalom at the 2018 PyeongChang Games.
More recently, a slew of teen snowboarders, including the intrepid 19-year-old, have recorded notable scores in international competitions, bringing an Olympic medal within closer reach than ever before.
BY LEE JIAN. [[email protected]]
