Snowboard national team member Yu Seun-geun revealed the behind-the-scenes story of winning an Olympic medal despite poor training conditions.
On the 21st episode of the MBC variety show Omniscient Interfering View (hereafter "Omniscient Interfering View"), Yu Seun-geun, who won Korea's first medal in the snowboard big air event at the 2026 Milan Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics, appeared.
On that episode, scenes of Yu Seun-geun training at a practice facility located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan, were shown.
Regarding this, national team coach Lee Chang-ho said, "Korea doesn't have a single training facility. Japan has at least one in each region," shocking viewers. Upon hearing this, the cast members could not hide their surprise, saying, "How did she win a medal when there are no facilities at all?"
Lee Chang-ho added, "Because there are no training environments domestically, athletes have no choice but to pay out of pocket to go overseas for training," describing the reality.
Yu Seun-geun's mother, Lee Hee-jung, also spoke about the financial burden. She said, "I spent more than 100 million won a year," and explained, "When she was young she competed in three events simultaneously, but for halfpipe she had to go to distant countries like Switzerland or the United States."
She continued, "Big air and slopestyle could be trained in relatively nearby Japan," and explained the background for choosing the event, saying, "Frankly, considering the expense, she chose big air."
Yu Seun-geun said, "I train abroad for more than six months a year," and when asked if she regretted changing events, she calmly replied, "I like big air, so I wasn't very sorry."
Meanwhile, Yu Seun-geun, born in January 2008, won the bronze medal in the snowboard big air event at the 2026 Milan Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics at the age of 18. This is the first Olympic medal in Korea's freestyle alpine skiing disciplines. <
[Photo] MBC "Omniscient Interfering View" broadcast screen capture
[OSEN]