Home > Sports > Olympic Sports

After a bronze at the Winter Games, snowboarder Yu Seung-eun plots her path with plenty of kimchi stew

Published: 24 Feb. 2026, 14:44

Snowboard medalist Yu Seung-eun poses for a photo holding a bronze medal with her mom at a kimchi stew restaurant in Sangam-dong, western Seoul on Feb. 21. [JOONGANG]

When 18-year-old Yu Seung-eun won a surprise Olympic bronze medal in the women's big air snowboarding on Feb.9, no one saw it coming.

Yu became an overnight star when she became the first Korean woman to win an Olympic medal in a snow sport, taking bronze in snowboard big air at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. She also competed in slopestyle finals on Feb. 18, where weather delays disrupted the planned competition schedule, and ultimately finished outside the podium.

"Mm, this is what I'm talking about," exclaimed Yu with every spoonful of kimchi jjigae (kimchi stew), which she called a “soul food.” "Winning an Olympic medal and eating my favorite food makes me feel like I am on top of the world — haha," Yu told the JoongAng Ilbo in an interview held on Saturday in a kimchi jjigae restaurant in Sangam, western Seoul, where she went immediately after a long flight home.

"I was craving soup the entire Olympics. I decided my first meal after coming home would be kimchi jjigae, and my wish has been granted," Yu said, gobbling down two servings by herself.

The athlete suffered multiple serious injuries before the big game, battling through broken ankles and wrists. Yu had to compete in the Olympics with a pin inserted to hold broken wrist and ankle bones in place. Even though the injuries had not fully healed and pain returned with every hard landing, Yu defied expectations and became one of the biggest surprises in this year's Olympics.

"I genuinely considered quitting snowboarding multiple times following frequent injuries. What got me through was thinking about my parents, and I was rewarded with an Olympic medal," the medalist said.

Olympic snowboard bronze medalist Yu Seung-eun poses for a photo at a kimchi stew restaurant on Feb. 21. [JOONGANG]

Riding the momentum from the big air event, Yu also competed in slopestyle but finished 12th. Yu placed third in qualifying, raising expectations, but struggled to fully demonstrate her skills amid bad weather delays.

"I briefly imagined a scenario where the finals were canceled due to worsening weather and the qualifying rankings were accepted as the final results," Yu said. "But I quickly erased that thought because it did not feel respectful to the athletes who worked so hard."

It costs over 100 million won ($69,300) annually for a national-level snowboard athlete to train and compete globally. After years of injuries, Yu has only recently begun to gain recognition on the international stage, making it difficult to secure sponsorships. The only current sponsor is Lotte, which does not fully cover training and competition expenses. At the Olympics, Yu competed on a recreational board that cost about 500,000 won, which Yu’s mother, Lee Hee-jeong, purchased with a 50 percent discount from a ski equipment outlet.

"Me training with a recreational board at the Olympics shocked a representative from the U.S. headquarters of a snowboard company," Yu said. "They replaced it with a professional athlete board on the spot." Yu added, "There are many challenges, but my dream is to win the Olympic gold medal."

Yu Seung-eun poses for a photo holding a bronze medal during the women’s snowboard big air medal ceremony at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics at the Livigno Snow Park in Italy on Feb. 9. [News1]

What's next for the young medalist? Yu plans to rest for now and slowly map out the next steps while stuffing her face with her favorite dishes: not trendy Gen Z dishes, but so-called ajeossi (middle-aged man) foods like gamjatang (spicy pork bone soup) and gukbap (soup with rice).

"I'm just so excited to enjoy the food I wasn't able to have during the Olympics," she said, with a radiant smile that revealed the 18-year-old high school student behind the Olympic medal.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY PIH JUYOUNG [[email protected]]