South Korea snowboarder Kim Sang-gyeom, 37, won a breakthrough Olympic silver medal in his fourth Games, delivering the country’s first medal of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics and its 400th Olympic medal overall. After the race, he bowed deeply on the podium toward the crowd and viewers back home.
Kim, who competes for High1, finished second in the men’s parallel giant slalom final on Feb. 8 (Korea time) at Livigno Snow Park in Livigno, in Italy’s Sondrio province. He lost by 0.19 seconds to Austria’s Benjamin Karl.
Kim jumped out to an early lead off the start but slipped slightly midway through the run, allowing Karl to close. Kim surged late and narrowed the gap, but he crossed the line just behind Karl to take silver.
The medal carried added significance for South Korea. Entering the Games, the country had 320 Summer Olympic medals and 79 Winter Olympic medals; Kim’s silver brought the Winter total to 80 and the overall total to 400.
In snow events, it was South Korea’s first Olympic medal in eight years, and the second in its history, since Lee Sang-ho won silver at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.
At the medal ceremony, Kim bowed deeply before putting on his medal, a gesture of thanks to supporters. He is part of the first generation of South Korean snowboarders to reach the Olympics, having made his Olympic debut at the 2014 Sochi Games.
Kim advanced to the knockout rounds after placing eighth in qualifying. In the quarterfinals, he upset world No. 1 Roland Fischnaller of Italy on his way to his first Olympic medal at age 37.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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