"Tears As He Says 'My Wife And Family Went Through So Much'... Surprise Silver Snowboarder Kim Sanggyeom Becomes Korea's 400th Olympic Medalist (All)"

Kim Sanggyeom Takes Silver in Snowboard Parallel Giant Slalom
Underdog Upset at the Milan-Cortina Games
Defeats Kosir, Fischnaller, and Zamfirov in Succession
Loses Thriller to Karl by 0.19 Seconds in Final
Claims First Medal for Himself and for Team Korea

Thirty-seven-year-old veteran Kim Sanggyeom of the Korean alpine snowboarding team, who rides for High1, pulled off an underdog upset.

On February 8 (local time), he took the silver medal in the men's snowboard parallel giant slalom final at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, held at Livigno Snowpark in Sondrio, Italy, finishing just 0.19 seconds behind Benjamin Karl of Austria. It is Kim Sanggyeom's first Olympic medal, and the first medal for Team Korea at these Games.

Kim Sanggyeom is biting his silver medal during the men's snowboard parallel giant slalom medal ceremony at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics held at Livigno Snowpark in Livigno, Italy. Photo by Yonhap News

Korean skiing and snowboarding added another medal in the same event eight years after Lee Sangho of Nexen Wingard won silver in this discipline at the Pyeongchang 2018 Games, which marked Korea's first-ever Olympic podium in the sport. Kim Sanggyeom has now etched his name in Korean sports history as the country's 400th Olympic medalist. Since Kim Sungjip won bronze in weightlifting at the London 1948 Summer Olympics, Korea has collected a total of 400 Olympic medals: 80 at the Winter Games (33 gold, 31 silver, 16 bronze) and 320 at the Summer Games (109 gold, 100 silver, 111 bronze).

In the parallel giant slalom, where two snowboarders race side by side on separate courses, 32 riders each completed both courses once in qualifying, with their combined times determining the top 16 who advanced to the knockout rounds. From the round of 16 through the final, rankings were decided in single-elimination heats. In the parallel giant slalom finals, the higher-seeded rider has the right to choose the course first.

In the qualifying round, Kim Sanggyeom posted a combined time of 1 minute 27.18 seconds over his first and second runs, advancing to the finals in eighth place. In his first finals race, the round of 16, he benefited from a stroke of luck when Zan Kosir of Slovenia fell late in the run, and in the quarterfinals he upset strong gold-medal favorite Roland Fischnaller of host nation Italy to reach the semifinals. Fischnaller has three wins this season and is ranked No. 1 in the World Cup men's parallel giant slalom standings.

Kim Sanggyeom celebrates after winning the men's snowboard parallel giant slalom semifinal at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics held at Livigno Snowpark in Italy. Livigno (Italy) = Yonhap News

The semifinals produced another upset. His opponent was Bulgarian powerhouse Tervel Zamfirov. Kim fell far behind early and seemed to be in serious trouble, but the veteran's resilience emerged in the latter half. After transitioning to the second course, he launched a ferocious charge and completed a dramatic come-from-behind victory just before the finish line, winning by 0.23 seconds. In the final, Kim Sanggyeom was leading defending champion Karl but was narrowly overtaken just before the finish.

Kim Sanggyeom finally savored the joy of standing on the podium in his fourth Olympic attempt. After finishing 17th in the parallel giant slalom at Sochi 2014, 15th at Pyeongchang 2018, and 24th at Beijing 2022, he soared vertically up the rankings this time. In a post-race interview, Kim said through tears, "I worked hard with my eyes on a medal, and I'm so happy that it led to a good result. My wife and family went through so much." He added, "I found my confidence in the second qualifying run. I thought the quarterfinal would be the real hurdle," and continued, "If I keep working steadily, I think I can keep producing good results."

Kim Sanggyeom is bowing deeply at the medal ceremony for the men's parallel giant slalom snowboarding event at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics held at Livigno Snowpark in Italy. Photo by Yonhap

Lee Sangho, the Pyeongchang silver medalist, raised expectations for another medal by winning an International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) World Cup event right before these Olympics, but he lost by 0.17 seconds to Andreas Prommegger of Austria in the round of 16 and failed to reach the quarterfinals. He had hoped to return to the podium after the disappointment of a quarterfinal exit at the Beijing 2022 Games, but once again came up short of a medal. Jo Wanhee of the Jeonbuk Ski Association, who competed alongside Kim Sanggyeom and Lee Sangho, finished 18th in qualifying with a time of 1 minute 27.76 seconds and did not advance to the finals.