"Star Beyond Kim Yu-na" Choi Ga-on's explosive interest and friendship with a domestic star from a prestigious university are also a hot topic [Milan Olympics]

*This content was translated by AI.

In Japan, interest in Choi Ga-on (18, Sehwa Girls' High School), a high school student who gave the first gold medal to the Korean national team, is also hot.

Japanese media Digest said on the 14th (Korea Standard Time), "The Korean snowboard gold medalist released a selfie (self-camera)," shedding light on the explosive interest in the country.

Earlier, Choi Gaon stood on the podium with a high score of 90.25 in the women's halfpipe final at the 2026 Milan-Cortina D'Ampezzo Winter Olympics held at Lvigno Snow Park in Italy on the 13th. It is the first Olympic gold medal in the history of Korean snow sports.

Choi Ga-on's gold medal was more valuable because it was the result of challenges that seemed impossible, such as serious injuries and reversal of abstention. Choi Gaon fell heavily during his second jump attempt in the first period of the final. On the broadcast screen, it seemed to fall from the head and failed to get up on the field for a while, signaling its seriousness.

Later, on the official broadcast screen, a DNS (voting authority) sign appeared next to Choi Ga-on's name, and I thought it would end as it is. However, Choi Ga-on reversed and started again, and in the second period, he fell again and seemed impossible to win a medal.

But he wrote a miracle. Despite challenging in the third period with the aim of lowering the difficulty and completing the race, he received the highest score of 90.25 points. Since then, the gold medal has been confirmed as Chloe Kim (USA) failed in the third period. Chloe Kim (88.00 points) won the silver medal, and Japan's Mitsuki Ono (85.00 points) won the bronze medal.

Chloe Kim received a lot of attention on the news that she was a Korean-American, gold medalist in the event for two consecutive years, and a role model for Choi Gaon, but the friendship between Ohno and the other two was also strong.

The three congratulated each other on the podium, and Ono also reportedly said "Congratulations" in Korean to Choi Ga-on. According to another Japanese media outlet, Kokokokara, Ono was from Waseda University, a prestigious university in Japan, and was good at Korean because watching Korean dramas was his hobby.

"The new Olympic queen (Choi Gaon) posted a selfie with silver medalist Chloe Kim and bronze medalist Ono on social media," Digest said, adding to the reaction of Japanese fans.

Japanese fans celebrated Choi Ga-on's gold medal, saying, "It's beautiful to respect each other," "I thought it was over when I fell," "I really respect you," "You look like a movie star," "You're really cute," and "A star beyond Kim Yu-na."

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*This content was translated by AI.