Eighteen-year-old Yu Seung-eun claimed bronze with 171.00 points in the women's big air final at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. This marks the first Olympic snowboard medal for a South Korean woman and the country's second medal overall. Japan's Kokomo Murase took gold, while New Zealand's Zoi Sadowski Synnott earned silver.
At the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, 18-year-old Yu Seung-eun secured bronze in the women's big air final at Livigno Snow Park in Livigno, Italy. She tallied 171.00 points from her two best runs out of three, becoming the first South Korean woman to win an Olympic snowboard medal. This was South Korea's second medal of the Games, following Kim Sang-kyum's silver in men's parallel giant slalom the previous day.
Twelve athletes competed in the final, each performing three jumps with scores from the top two counting. Yu scored 87.75 points in her first run with a backside triple cork 1440 mute grab—three off-axis inversions, four full rotations, and a front hand grab between the toes ahead of the front binding. She had never landed it successfully in practice but felt confident. "I never landed that one successfully in practice. But I felt really confident about it during practice," Yu said. "I was like, 'I'm going to land this for real in the competition.'"
In her second run, she executed a frontside triple cork 1440 Indy grab for 83.25 points, taking the lead. This was her first time landing it on snow, prompting her to celebrate by tossing her board. "That's because I just succeeded in landing that frontside 1440 right here for the first time on snow," she explained. "So, wow, I was totally pumped and just threw the board."
Yu faltered in her third run, attempting the same trick and landing on her back for 20.75 points, but held on for bronze, 11.50 points ahead of Britain's Mia Brookes.
Having missed late 2024 and most of 2025 due to injuries, Yu stayed focused. "What I discussed with the coaches upstairs was not to watch the other competitors and just focus on doing my own thing," she said via the Olympic Information Service. "So I didn't even know what place I was in. I didn't even know I was in medal contention."
"I'm very proud of myself right now," she added. "It feels like such an honour to snowboard for the country of South Korea. I feel like I showed we can snowboard like this."
President Lee Jae-myung congratulated her on Facebook: "I extend my warm congratulations." He noted the medal sets a new milestone in South Korean snowboarding history, praising her recovery from injury and bold performance in the high-risk event. Big air debuted at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, where athletes launch from a ramp for judged flips, spins, height, distance, and landings.
