Lee Yoon Seung (middle) on Jan. 27 poses for a photo at Jeongseon High1 Resort in Jeongseon-gun County, Gangwon-do Province, after winning the gold medal in the men's freestyle skiing dual moguls at the Gangwon Youth Winter Olympics. Huff Porter (left) of the U.S. won the silver and Takuto Nakamura from Japan the bronze. (Olympic Information Services of International Olympic Committee)

By Kim Hyelin

Lee Yoon Seung (Songgok High School), a national hopeful in men's freestyle skiing, has clinched a gold medal at the Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics (Gangwon 2024) in Gangwon-do Province.

In the finals of the men's freestyle skiing dual moguls on Jan. 27 at Jeongseon High1 Resort in Jeongseon-gun County, Gangwon-do, Lee edged runner-up Huff Porter of the U.S., 18-17, for the gold.

Mogul is a freestyle skiing event in which competitors perform aerial tricks off jumps after rapidly descending from a slope where snow hills, or moguls, connect. Dual moguls have two skiers going down side by side. 

Dual moguls was made an official event at Gangwon 2024, which is also the first tournament of its kind to have mixed dual moguls with its adoption of mixed team events. Lee and Yun Shin-Ee (Bongpyeong High School) on Jan. 26 won the silver in the mixed team dual moguls.

"I'm happy because I feel rewarded," Lee said on Jan. 27 in an interview. "I'll also work hard to win a gold medal on the adult stage."

Born in 2006 and a member of the national team since 2021, Lee is one of the nation's best prospects in freestyle mogul skiing. He finished third in the event in the FIS Europa Cup in February 2022.

Three athletes on Jan. 26 also became triple gold medalists on Gangwon 2024's seventh day of competition.

In a daily briefing the next day, the tournament's organizing committee said Alpine skiier Maja Waroschitz of Austria won her third gold in the mixed team parallel race, adding to her wins in the women's Alpine combined and slalom.

The other two triple gold winners were the Netherlands' Angel Daleman, who won the women's mass start and individual 500 and 1500 m, and German speedskater Finn Sonnekalb, who placed first in the men's mass start, 1,500 and 500 m.

kimhyelin211@korea.kr