15-Year-Old Choi Ji-woon Wins Gold in Asian Games Youth Sailing with Thrilling Comeback from 4th Place

Fifteen-year-old Choi Ji-woon (Daecheon Seo Middle School) has won the gold medal in the youth dinghy event at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

Competing in the men's youth dinghy race held at the Kaiyo Yacht Harbor in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, today (October 3), Choi finished with a net score of 25 penalty points after 12 races to claim the top spot.

Choi was lingering in fourth place overall with just two races remaining, but he displayed a fierce final surge today to overturn the standings and pull off a dramatic comeback victory.

This marks the first time in 12 years that South Korean sailing has captured a gold medal in a youth division at the Asian Games, following Park Sung-bin's victory in the under-16 optimist event at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
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