Choi Ga-on tops Chloe Kim in women’s halfpipe final at Milano Cortina 2026

A new name is now central to the Winter Games conversation: Choi Ga-on. The South Korean teenager won gold in the women’s halfpipe final on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026 (ET), denying Chloe Kim a historic third straight Olympic title and immediately reshaping what “chloe kim olympics” means at Milano Cortina.

Searches have spiked for multiple spellings—choi gaon, gaon choi, and “choi ga on”—as fans try to match a breakout performance with the athlete behind it.

What happened in the women’s halfpipe final

The womens half pipe final (often searched as womens halfpipe) hinged on a classic halfpipe storyline: one clean, high-difficulty run at exactly the right moment.

Choi rebounded after an early fall to deliver her best ride in the last round, posting 90.25—the only score above 90 in the final. Kim, who led earlier, had a final chance to reclaim first but fell on her last run, locking in silver.

Medal results (best score of three runs counted):

Why “Choi Ga-on” is suddenly everywhere

Choi’s win didn’t come out of nowhere for people who follow the sport year-round. She arrived at the Games with momentum from top-level events this season, and she’s been viewed as the kind of rider who can raise the ceiling of women’s halfpipe scoring with amplitude, clean grabs, and sharper landings under pressure.

The way it happened matters, too: recovering from a scary early mistake to deliver a composed, gold-winning final run is the kind of Olympic moment that travels instantly—especially with the host region buzzing and the event happening in a prime viewing window for Europe and the afternoon in ET.

Chloe Kim Olympics: the three-peat that didn’t happen

For Kim, this final was about more than another medal. She came to Italy chasing a third consecutive Olympic gold in halfpipe—something no snowboarder has ever achieved in a straight run of three Games in the same event.

She leaves the day with silver, still one of the most decorated riders the sport has produced, but with a different headline: the era of automatic favorites is over, and the next generation is already winning on the biggest stage.

How old is Chloe Kim?

If you’re asking “how old is chloe kim” during these Games, the answer is straightforward:

Chloe Kim is 25 years old (born April 23, 2000).

That age detail has become part of the wider storyline because this final put her experience and legacy against a teenage challenger in a judged event where risk and precision can flip the order in seconds.

What the result signals for the rest of Milano Cortina

This outcome also highlights a broader Winter Games pattern: in judged snow sports, the margins aren’t just about difficulty. They’re about landing quality, control at speed, and delivering when visibility, snow texture, and nerves are all working against you.

The immediate ripple effects to watch next:

• Whether Choi’s gold launches a sustained run of podiums in future global events

• Whether Kim recalibrates her competitive plan toward the next Olympic cycle

• How quickly the women’s field pushes scoring higher now that 90+ has shown up under Olympic pressure

For fans tracking “women’s halfpipe” daily, Thursday’s final wasn’t just an upset—it was a marker that the sport’s center of gravity is shifting, and Milano Cortina 2026 is where that shift became official.