"37 years old" Kim Sang Gyeom won a human, miraculous "silver game"... '17th → 15th → 24th → 2nd place' for the first time in my life [Milan Olympics]

*This content was translated by AI.

It is a human victory for the oldest member of the Korean snowboard. Kim Sang-gyeom (37, Hiwon) won an unexpected silver medal in the men's parallel competition at the 2026 Milan-Cortina D'Ampezzo Winter Olympics.

Kim Sang-gyeom lost to Benjamin Karl (Austria) by 0.23 seconds in the final match held at Lvigno Snowpark in Italy on the 8th (Korea Standard Time).

As a result of this day, Kim Sang-gyeom was listed in the history of the Korean Winter Olympics. Kim Sang-gyeom's silver medal is the 400th Winter Olympics medal in Korea's history.

In the first section, Kim Sang-gyeom led 0.17 seconds, but he made a mistake and slowed down. In the second leg, he was pushed back by 0.04 seconds. At the last minute, Karl crossed the finish line one step ahead of Kim Sang-gyeom and took off his jacket and roared.

It's a valuable silver medal. Kim Sang-gyeom, who was known as an underdog, defeated one of the world's best players in a row and made a remarkable performance of winning his first medal in his life.

Earlier, Kim Sang-gyeom advanced to the final by recording 43.37 seconds against Terbel Zampirov (Bulgaria) in the semifinals and secured a silver medal. He won by just 0.23 seconds.

Kim Sang-gyeom's process to advance to the finals was a series of extraordinary events. Kim Sang-gyeom, who joined the round of 16 in eighth place in the preliminary round, first beat Gian Kosir (Slovenia), who passed in ninth place.

Kosir, who was the first opponent in the finals, is a veteran with three Olympic medals. Kim Sang-gyeom overturned the 0.09 second gap in the first section and won the second section when Kosir lost his balance and collapsed.

In the quarterfinals, he met Roland Fischnaller, the No. 1 seed overall and hero of home team Italy. Fischnaller threw the game by choosing a red course rather than a favorable blue course and led Kim Sang-gyeom by 0.15 seconds in the beginning. However, Kim Sang-gyeom succeeded in turning the tables by 0.06 seconds in the second measurement section, and succeeded in catching a big fish as Fischnaller lost his balance and left the course.

Kim Sang-gyeom started his career in the second year of middle school at the recommendation of his physical education teacher. Ahead of this competition, he said through the Korean Sports Council, "We have prepared without regret for the past four years. I will show you the results of the process," he said.

Kim Sang-gyeom then showed strong mental strength, saying, "I focus only on warm-ups that fit me without any special jinx before the match," and "I don't want to worry about what hasn't happened in advance."

In addition, he said, "I suffered a slump that lasted for years because the game did not go well during my career," and added, "I am always grateful to my wife for keeping me mentally calm whenever I had a hard time."

Kim Sang-gyeom's medal this time is a valuable fruit after standing up after three failures. Kim Sang-gyeom, who was ranked 17th at the 2014 Sochi Games, had to realize the world's high wall by ranking 15th at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics and 24th at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. However, he completed a human victory drama by making his name on the Geary podium in his fourth Olympic stage.

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*This content was translated by AI.