Koreaboo
1 hour ago
JTBC, which holds exclusive broadcasting rights for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, is facing controversy for not airing Choi Ga On‘s historic gold medal moment in the snowboard halfpipe live on its main channel, instead only delivering it via captions.
On the early morning of the 13th KST, Choi Ga On won the gold medal in the women’s snowboard halfpipe final at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics held at Livigno Snow Park in Italy, scoring 90.25 points. Despite mistakes in the first and second runs, she achieved a dramatic comeback victory by earning the highest score in the final third run. This marked the first gold medal in snowboarding for Korea at the Winter Olympics, adding to the significance.
However, at that time, JTBC’s main channel was broadcasting the short track semifinals live, and news of Choi Ga On’s gold medal was delivered only via breaking news captions. Meanwhile, the JTBC Sports channel aired the snowboard event live. The main channel covered only up to the first run of the halfpipe and then focused on the short track broadcast.
Viewer opinions are divided on this issue. Some viewers understand the programming choice, as short track is also a popular event in Korea with high interest, while others criticize the decision to air the historic gold medal moment by a Korean athlete only on the sports channel, saying it reduced accessibility.