Lee Seung-hoon (21, Korea National University of Physical Education) became the first Korean athlete to reach an Olympic freestyle skiing final, but he shed tears due to injury.
Lee Seung-hoon advanced to the men's halfpipe final at the 2026 Milano-Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics at Livigno Snowpark in Italy on the 21st (Korea time), but he did not compete in runs 1–3 and withdrew.
The reason was a regrettable injury. Lee Seung-hoon injured his knee during a landing in practice ahead of the final. He hit his right knee on the pipe wall, and he was carried out on a stretcher with his eyes reddened.
In the end, Lee Seung-hoon had to give up what would have been his first-ever and Korea's first Olympic freestyle skiing final appearance. He wrote "Let's go!" on social media to steel his resolve, but the injury was more serious than expected. After skipping the first run, they watched to see if he could compete in runs 2–3, but he ultimately had no choice but to withdraw.
In the qualifiers of this competition, Lee Seung-hoon recorded a top score of 76.00 in runs 1 and 2, placing 10th out of 25. Thanks to that, he secured one of the 12 spots for the final.
This was the first time a Korean athlete reached the Olympic final in freestyle skiing. Lee Seung-hoon also competed at the 2022 Beijing Games four years ago but remained 16th in the qualifiers and missed advancing to the final.
Since then, Lee Seung-hoon honed his skills and emerged as Korea's leading athlete in the discipline. He made new history for Korean freestyle skiing by winning a bronze medal at the World Cup in Calgary, Canada, in February 2024, and last February he won a gold medal at the Harbin Winter Asian Games.
With talk even of Olympic medal potential, Lee Seung-hoon comfortably qualified for the final. However, he reportedly suffered an accident while practicing a 1,800-degree (five-rotation) trick he had been preparing for this competition. Sadly, Lee Seung-hoon ended the competition without properly competing on what would have been his first final stage.
Meanwhile, Moon Hee-sung (Korea National University of Physical Education), who also competed, placed 22nd overall in the qualifiers and did not advance to the final. He, who secured an additional Olympic quota spot and was the last to join the Korean delegation for this competition, was eliminated after scoring 35 points in the qualifiers.
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