Host S. Korea grabs 2 gold medals on final day of Winter Youth Olympics

South Korea picked up two gold medals on the final day of the Winter Youth Olympics on home soil Thursday, producing a pair of double gold medalists in the process. South Korea captured the gold medal in figure skating's team event at Gangneung Ice Arena in Gangneung, some 160 kilometers east of Seoul, over the United States and Canada. South Korea earned 13 points, with a victory in each discipline worth five points. The U.S. had 12 points and Canada finished with nine. Kim, who won the men's singles gold medal Monday, led the five skaters in the team event with 136.38 points. Shin Ji-a, the silver medalist in the women's singles on Tuesday, added five points by coming out on top among five female skaters with her personal-best 137.48 points. South Korea earned three points from ice dance, where Kim Jinny and Lee Namu finished third with 82.15 points. Kim Hyun-gyeom became South Korea's first double gold medalist at Gangwon 2024. Then moments later, snowboarder Lee Chae-un joined him. Lee won the men 's halfpipe gold medal at Welli Hilli Park Ski Resort in Hoengseong, just west of Gangneung, with 88.50 points. He had earlier won the men's slopestyle gold medal last Thursday. Lee pulled out of the big air event Saturday with an ankle injury. Although the injury was considered minor, Lee skipped the big air competition so that he could focus on the halfpipe, his main event. And he came through with the very last gold medal for the host country. The 10 snowboarders in the final each had three runs, and their best score out of the three became their final score. Lee led the field with 87.25 points after the first run, and he outdid himself with 88.50 points in the next run. Lee clinched his gold medal even before performing his third run, as the boarders in front of him couldn't match Lee's highest score in their last run. Alessandro Barbieri of the U.S. got the silver medal with 84.75 points and Ryusei Yamada of Japan earned bronze with 83.00 points. South Korea finished the Winter Youth Olympics with seven gold medals, six silver medals and four bronze medals. Source: Yonhap News Agency