Choi Ga-on becomes youngest winner of Copper Mountain Dew Tour

Promising snowboarder Choi Ga-on, a 15-year-old South Korean girl, became the youngest winner of the 2023 Copper Mountain Dew Tour with the highest record written in history.

Choi recorded the highest score of 98.33 in the history of the competition held at Copper Mountain on Sunday. She also gained the honor of becoming the youngest winner at the age of 14 years and 115 days. She already excited the snowboarding world last month when she became the youngest gold medalist in a superpipe competition event at the Winter X Games. Surprisingly, her record surpassed that of Chloe Kim, who won the superpipe event at the age of 14 years and nine months.

Founded in 2005, the Dew Tour is one of the leading U.S. extreme sports competitions along with the X Games. A superpipe is a type of halfpipe structure. Athletes make spins and jumps on a half-cylinder slope. Referees eval‎uate them based on basic actions, spins, techniques, and level of difficulty.

Choi did a successful switch backside 720, a spin followed by an ascending move in the opposite direction, and completed a 720-degree jump in the first round, earning 91.33 points. She made it on a 900-degree jump and a switch backside 900 in one go, recording 95.66 in the second round. Starting with a 900-degree switch backside jump, she impressed the referees with a 1080-degree jump and a switch 900-degree jump, which gave her 98.33 points. "I was surprised by my score," Choi said after the game. "I am so happy about being invited to such a big event and winning a gold medal right after making it in the X Games."

China’s Patti Zhou, a 12-year-old player, ranked second with a score of 90.66, followed by 17-year-old Bea Kim of the United States with 80. Famous as a snowboard prodigy for winning a U.S. national competition at the age of eight, Zhou missed out on the opportunity to become the competition's youngest winner.


Bo-Mi Im bom@donga.com