15-year-old sailing Taegeuk warrior Choi Ji-woon wins gold medal in youth division at Asian Games

Choi Ji-woon, a 15-year-old sailing Taegeuk warrior, tore through the golden waters at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

Choi Ji-woon competed in the 12th race of the boys' yachting dinghy competition held at Gamagori Kaiyo Yacht Port in Aichi Prefecture, Japan on the 3rd, and recorded a final score of 25 points, taking first place and winning the gold medal.

It has been 12 years since Park Seong-bin won the U-16 Optimist event at the 2014 Incheon Games that a Korean yacht won a gold medal in the youth event at the Asian Games.

Yachts are awarded penalty points according to their ranking in each race, such as 1 point for 1st place and 2 points for 2nd place, and then the points are added up and the athlete with the lowest score wins.

Considering the highly variable nature of the natural environment, multiple races are held, and penalty points from the two lowest-performing races are excluded from the final total.

Choi Ji-woon, who is expected to be the 'next-generation ace' of Korean yachting even at the young age of 3rd grade, has consistently maintained her top ranking, taking first place in the 2nd and 4th races in the early stages of the competition.

However, in the 8th, 9th, and 10th races held on the 2nd, he was chased by competitors and slipped to 4th place overall.

To make matters worse, on the morning of the 3rd, when the fateful last two races took place, there was not enough wind for sailing, so the race was delayed and a variable occurred that pushed it to the point of being cancelled.

However, after waiting and setting sail, Choi Ji-woon's true value was revealed.

Choi Ji-woon, who displayed incredible concentration, confidently crossed the finish line in first place in the 11th race, narrowing the gap with the leaders, and finished second in the final 12th race, quickly surpassing his competitors.

With his outstanding performance on this day, Choi Ji-woon tied with the leader, Go Ian (Singapore), with a total score of 25 points.

However, in the event of a tie, according to the tiebreaker rule, which determines superiority or inferiority by comparing the best scores in order, Choi Ji-woon, who had more high-ranking races, became the protagonist of the gold medal.

Third place went to Hong Kong's Cheng de Vilmore Salgado Thiago, who scored 27 points.

Traditionally, sailing at the Asian Games has consistently included a youth division as an official event to develop the skills of Asian countries that were slow to introduce sailing.

Recently, the Asian Games were reorganized around official adult Olympic events, and youth events tended to be reduced, but youth events were expanded again at the Aichi-Nagoya Games.

Choi Ji-woon, who once again stood on a stage of widened opportunity, delivered his first golden fortune in 12 years, proving the bright future of Korean yachting.