Snowboarding prodigy Choi Ga-on takes gold at Copper Mountain

Choi Ga-on competes during the women's snowboard superpipe final on day two of the Dew Tour at Copper Mountain on Saturday in Copper Mountain, Colorado. [AFP/YONHAP]

Korean snowboarder Choi Ga-on took gold at the women’s snowboard superpipe at Dew Tour Copper Mountain in Colorado on Saturday, winning her second pro-level competition just a month after topping the podium at the X Games.

Choi, 14, posted three scores in the 90s including a 98.33 on her third run, one of the highest scores ever awarded at any Dew Tour event.

“I couldn’t believe it when I saw the score,” Choi was quoted as saying through a translator on the official Dew Tour website. “I just wanted to show the people in the crowd what I can do. I didn’t think I would be able to do that run but just went for it.

“I’m so excited and so happy, and I feel like this is just the start. I’m inspired to start working even harder for the next contest.”

Choi is a rapidly rising star on the superpipe circuit, last month breaking two-time Olympic gold medalist Chloe Kim’s record as the youngest X Games snowboard halfpipe gold medalist.

Choi’s success at such a young age — she can already pull off 1080s and spins in all four directions during a run to boost her score — has already seen her heralded as the “next Chloe Kim,” a tribute Kim presumably endorses as she has already mentored Choi in her young career.

Choi’s success at the Dew Tour on Saturday is another mark in the Kim column — the 22-year-old American snowboarder one the event last year.

Choi is from Seoul originally but trains at Mammoth Mountain in California. She had a dominant youth career, winning two International Ski Federation events last year and topping the podium at the 2022 FIS Junior World Championships.

In winter sports, a superpipe is a large halfpipe structure with steep walls that extend 6.7 meters into the air at a near-vertical incline at the top. Snowboarders pick up speed as they run up and down the sides of the pipe, performing tricks as they catch air at the top.

The sport is judged on a number of factors including height, difficulty, variety and execution.

Choi was not the only rising star to make it to the podium on Saturday. Second place went to Copper Mountain Patti Zhou, who at just 11 years old became the second youngest medalist at any Dew Tour event.

Bea Kim, 16, of the United States finished in third place.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]