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Choi Gaon, 17, beats her idol Chloe Kim to win Korea's first Olympic gold on snow

South Korea's Choi Gaon, 17, won the women's snowboard halfpipe at Livigno Snow Park on Thursday, 12 February, with 90.25 points. American Chloe Kim, the two-time defending champion, took silver with 88.00, and Japan's Mitsuki Ono bronze with 85.00. It was South Korea's first Olympic gold in a snow event, and Choi became the youngest women's halfpipe champion, beating Kim's own 2018 record by about seven months, The Korea Times reported, carrying Yonhap.

Choi fell in both of her first two runs; after the first she stayed down for several minutes. Her third, conservative run held up as the last five riders failed to beat it.

“I can't believe my first Olympic medal is gold.” — Choi Gaon, via Jang

A second Korea Times piece told the story behind it: Kim has known Choi for nearly a decade, helped her through an injury abroad, and her family put Choi in touch with coach Ben Wisner. Between runs in the final, Kim encouraged her. KOAA, an NBC affiliate in Colorado, led instead with what Kim lost: the chance to be the first snowboarder to win three straight Olympic golds, something Shaun White never did. Pakistan's Jang noted that Kim herself had crashed hard in the final before riding off unaided.

How each outlet framed it

• The Korea Times (Yonhap) — a national first, a record, and a mentor beaten by her pupil.
• KOAA — the three-peat denied.
• Jang — the friendship on the podium, and Kim's own fall.

What we don't know yet: whether Kim was hurt in her crash. Jang said medical staff attended to her but did not say if she was injured.