Milan-Cortina 2026: South Korea’s Choi Ga-on to Receive 300 Million Won Bonus for Gold

South Korea’s Choi Ga-on bites her medal after winning gold with 90.25 points in the women’s snowboard halfpipe final at Livigno Snow Park in Italy at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, on Feb. 12 (local time). [Photo=Yonhap]

Choi Ga-on (Sehwa High School), South Korea’s first gold medalist of the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, will receive a 300 million won ($) bonus from the Korea Ski and Snowboard Association.

Competing Feb. 13 (Korea time) at Livigno Snow Park in Italy, Choi scored 90.25 points to win the women’s snowboard halfpipe final, beating American Chloe Kim, who scored 88.00.

The victory gave Choi South Korea’s first gold of the Milan-Cortina Games and the first Winter Olympic gold medal in Korean skiing.

The association has set medal bonuses of 300 million won for gold, 200 million won for silver and 100 million won for bronze. As the gold medalist, Choi will receive 300 million won.

Since 2014, with Lotte Group serving as the association’s lead sponsor, the bonus program has expanded. For the Olympics, world championships, World Cup events, the Youth Olympics and junior world championships, the association pays bonuses not only for medals but also for finishes up to sixth place.

Olympic gold medalists also receive 63 million won in government prize money and a performance-based pension from the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation. Depending on evaluation points, an Olympic gold medalist can receive 1 million won per month or a lump sum of 67.2 million won.

* This article has been translated by AI.

Kang Sang Heon ksh@ajunews.com