South Korea’s Kim Sang-gyeom wins snowboard silver, becomes oldest Korean individual Olympic medalist

Kim Sang-gyeom bites his silver medal during the medal ceremony for the men’s parallel giant slalom snowboard final at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics at Livigno Snow Park in Italy on Feb. 8 (local time). [Photo by Yonhap]

South Korean snowboarder Kim Sang-gyeom made Olympic history with a surprise silver medal at the Milan-Cortina Winter Games.

Kim won silver in the men’s parallel giant slalom final on Feb. 8 (Korea time) at Livigno Snow Park in Italy, delivering South Korea’s first medal of these Olympics.

After qualifying eighth, Kim advanced through the bracket and upset this season’s World Cup No. 1, Roland Fischnaller of Italy, in the quarterfinals. He reached the final and lost to Benjamin Karl of Austria by 0.19 seconds to secure silver.

The medal capped Kim’s fourth Olympic appearance. He emerged as a top prospect after winning the 2011 Erzurum Winter Universiade in Turkiye, but struggled at the Olympics: 17th in qualifying at the 2014 Sochi Games, eliminated in the round of 16 at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, and 24th in qualifying at the 2022 Beijing Games. He broke through at age 37.

Kim is now South Korea’s oldest Olympic medalist in an individual event. The previous mark belonged to shooter Jin Jong-oh, who won gold in the 50-meter pistol at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics at age 36. The oldest South Korean Winter Olympic medalist had been speedskater Lee Seung-hoon, who won bronze in the mass start at the 2022 Beijing Games at age 34.

Including team events, South Korea’s oldest Olympic medalist remains archer Oh Jin-hyeok, who won gold in the men’s team event at the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics at age 40.

Kim’s result also added to South Korea’s ski and snowboard history. It marked the country’s second Olympic medal in this event, eight years after Lee Sang-ho won silver at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games for the nation’s first Olympic podium in skiing and snowboarding.

Kim’s silver was also South Korea’s 400th Olympic medal. South Korea won its first Olympic medal at the 1948 London Summer Olympics, when weightlifter Kim Seong-jip took bronze. Through the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, South Korea had 320 Summer Games medals (109 gold, 100 silver, 111 bronze). Through the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, it had 79 Winter Games medals (33 gold, 30 silver, 16 bronze), for a total of 399. Kim’s silver pushed the overall count to 400.

* This article has been translated by AI.

Kang Sang Heon ksh@ajunews.com