South Korea’s Lee Chae-woon, who finished sixth at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics despite landing a world-first trick, shared a measured reaction in a social media post.
Lee wrote on his SNS account on Feb. 17 that he had returned to South Korea after “the huge dream stage called the Olympics,” adding, “I thought about a lot of things.”
“Even though I landed the world’s first frontside triple 1620, I still don’t know why I got 87.50 points and ended in sixth,” he wrote. “But I don’t want to hold on to regret or lingering feelings.”
He said what mattered was that he delivered everything he had. “To the question, ‘Did you really pour out everything you have?’ I can say confidently that I did,” he wrote.
Lee added that the pressure was heavy before his third run after falling on his first two. He said he rode with his parents cheering below and fans supporting him regardless of nationality, adding that it would not be an exaggeration to say he “put his life on the line” as he tried to do everything he could.
“Now what I can do is break through that wall and make other athletes feel a wall from me,” he wrote, adding that while he believed he had worked hard, he “may have been lacking” against “the wall of the world.” He later added, “I’m not alone,” and said he would repay the support “in a bigger way.”
Online commenters responded with messages such as “You worked hard,” “Thank you for a great performance,” and “For us, it was a gold medal.”
Lee placed sixth with 87.50 points in the men’s snowboard halfpipe final on Feb. 14 at the 2026 Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics, despite landing the world-first trick. Lee, the 2025 Harbin Asian Games slopestyle gold medalist, showed top-level form on the Olympic stage.
He is viewed as part of a rising generation in South Korean snowboarding alongside Choi Ga-on, who won gold in women’s snowboard halfpipe at the same Olympics, and Yoo Seung-eun, who took bronze in women’s snowboard big air. Attention is also on whether Lee can rebound at the 2030 Alps Winter Olympics in France.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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