Snowboard Star Lee Sangho Fails to Medal...Out in Round of 16

Defeat in the Round of 16 at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics
Tears after falling 0.17 seconds behind veteran Prommegger

'Baechu Boi' Lee Sangho (Nexen Wingard) missed out on a medal in the men's snowboard parallel giant slalom at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.

On the 8th (local time), at Livigno Snowpark in the Province of Sondrio, Italy, he was eliminated in the round of 16 of the men's snowboard parallel giant slalom, losing to Andreas Prommegger of Austria by 0.17 seconds. Lee Sangho, the silver medalist at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, mounted a strong run in an effort to move past the disappointment of his quarterfinal exit at the 2022 Beijing Games, but was tripped up by dark horse Prommegger.

Lee Sangho is disappointed after being eliminated in the round of 16 of the men's snowboard parallel giant slalom at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. Livigno (Italy) = Yonhap News

In the snowboard parallel giant slalom, 32 athletes were split into pairs and raced once each on the blue and red courses, with the top 16 advancing to the knockout stage based on their combined times. From the round of 16 through the final, rankings were determined in single-elimination heats.

In the earlier qualifying round, Lee Sangho recorded a combined time of 1 minute 26.74 seconds over his first and second runs, advancing to the finals phase in sixth place overall. His round-of-16 opponent was Prommegger, a veteran born in 1980 who had finished 11th in qualifying. Lee took the lead in the early part of the race, but gradually fell behind and crossed the finish line 0.17 seconds later.