Thrilling Comeback from 4th Place... 15-Year-Old Sailor Choi Ji-woon Claims Gold

Fifteen-year-old national sailing prodigy Choi Ji-woon has clinched a gold medal at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

Competing in the youth dinghy event at the Gamagori Kaiyo Yacht Harbor in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, today (October 3), Choi finished with a total of 25 points after 12 races, securing first place and the gold medal.

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

Sailing events are scored by assigning penalty points based on each race's finishing position—one point for first, two points for second, and so on—with the lowest total score winning the competition.

To account for unpredictable natural environmental variables, multiple races are held, and the two worst-performing races are dropped from the final cumulative score.

Regarded as a rising ace of South Korean sailing despite being a third-year middle school student, Choi consistently maintained a top-tier standing early in the competition, taking first place in the second and fourth races.

However, fierce chases from competitors during the eighth, ninth, and tenth races held yesterday (October 2) caused him to slip down to fourth overall.

To make matters worse, during the morning of today (October 3) when the fateful final two races were scheduled, a lack of sufficient wind delayed the races, bringing them to the verge of cancellation.

Yet, once the sails were raised following the wait, Choi's true value shone through.

Displaying remarkable focus, Choi proudly crossed the finish line in first place in the 11th race to narrow the gap with the front-runners, and followed up with a second-place finish in the final 12th race to instantly surpass his competitors.

With his stellar performance today, Choi tied with front-runner Koh Ian of Singapore with a total of 25 points.

Under the tiebreaker rule, which breaks ties by comparing the competitors' best individual race finishes in descending order, Choi emerged as the gold medalist by virtue of having more high-ranking finishes.

Third place went to Cheung De Belmore Salgado Thiago of Hong Kong, who recorded 27 points.

Traditionally, youth events have consistently been included as official events in Asian Games sailing to help foster the skill development of Asian nations where the sport was introduced later.

While youth events had recently faced downsizing as the Asian Games were reorganized around official Olympic adult categories, they were expanded once again for the Aichi-Nagoya Games.

Stepping onto this broadened stage of opportunity, Choi delivered a golden victory 12 years in the making, proving the bright future of South Korean sailing.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.