Even after a year off due to an ankle fracture, she won a bronze medal, and high school girl Yoo Seung is a "touched story." [Milan Olympics]

*This content was translated by AI.

Yoo Seung-eun (18, Sungbok High School) who was born in 2008 stood on the podium at the 2026 Milan-Cortina D'Ampezzo (Italy) Winter Olympics. She is the first Korean female ski and snowboarder ever. The meaning was even more valuable because it was a podium that overcame a number of injuries such as a broken ankle.

Yoo Seung-eun scored 171 points in the women's big air final of the snowboard competition held at the Lvigno Snowpark in Italy on the 10th (Korea time), following Kokomo Murase (179 points from Japan) and Sinut Joey Sadowski (172.25 points from New Zealand). This is the news of the Korean team's medal in the snowboarding event following Kim Sang-gyeom's silver medal in the men's parallel competition the day before.

Snowboard Big Air takes off from a large jumping platform after the participants descend a steep slope and scores with aerial technology to determine the ranking. Add up the two high scores of the three trials. Yoo Seung-eun scored 87.75 points for attempting a triple-cock 1440 that leaps on his back in the first period and rotates 1440 degrees in the air, and in the second period, he scored 83.25 points with a front-side triple-cock 1440 technology that leaps forward and rotates 1440 degrees. He fell in the last third period, but stood on the podium through the combined scores in the first and second periods.

Yoo Seung-eun, ranked 12th in the world, went to a ski resort when she was in the third grade of elementary school and followed her father to snowboard for the first time. He stabilized his talent early on, including the 2023 Junior World Championship Big Air Silver and last year's U.S. Steam Boat World Cup Big Air Silver. At the European Cup held in Zeiser, Italy, just before the Olympics, he ranked fourth in slopestyle and played his first Olympic stage through this event.

However, the journey was not smooth. In particular, it was significant in that it was a result of overcoming an ankle fracture, which he cited as the "most difficult moment in his career." In fact, he couldn't stand on the board for as long as a year due to an ankle fracture in 2004. Since then, he has suffered elbow dislocation and wrist fracture. Yoo Seung-eun, however, did not give up and concentrated on rehabilitation, and eventually stood on the Olympic stage and wrote a moving story to the podium.

According to the Korea Sports Association, Yoo Seung-eun said ahead of the tournament, "The most memorable time was when I succeeded in triple 1440 technology for the first time and when I stood at the World Cup podium for the first time. The most difficult moment was when I had to take a year off due to a broken ankle. "I worked hard on rehabilitation, imagining myself standing on the board again, and I was able to overcome it thanks to the help of my surroundings," he said.

"I will do my best to enjoy the game rather than dwell on the rankings or results. "I want to successfully show all the skills I have prepared without injury," he said, smiling brightly after successfully showing off his skills without injury as he wished, as well as making a valuable achievement of a medal on his first Olympic stage.

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*This content was translated by AI.