From Chloe Kim to Birk Ruud: The Winter Youth Olympic Games graduates that shone at Beijing 2022
In the run up to the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG), we take a look at some big-name YOG graduates who went on to win gold at the Beijing 2022 Olympics.
The Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) proved to be a very effective breeding ground for champions at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
Several gold medal winners in China, including Ailing Eileen Gu, Chloe Kim, Kagiyama Yuma, and Birk Ruud, began their Olympic journey at the YOG.
In fact, out of the 341 YOG alumni that took part in China, 53 went on to win medals (24 gold, 10 silver and 19 bronze).
Ahead of the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympics Games, we take a closer look at the top stars from YOG history, who went on to win Olympic gold in Beijing.
Chloe Kim - USA, snowboarding
Chloe Kim became the first USA athlete to win snowboarding Winter YOG gold when she took out the halfpipe and slopestyle titles at Lillehammer 2016.
In fact, the Opening Ceremony flag bearer also earned the highest snowboarding score in Youth Olympics history at the time.
Two years later, the California native, aged 17, enjoyed a stellar 2018 which culminated in halfpipe gold on her Winter Olympics debut at PyeongChang 2018.
In the process, she became the youngest woman to ever land two 1080-degree spins in a row at the Games, and the youngest woman to ever win gold in the halfpipe.
Now a global superstar, Kim used that momentum to claim back-to-back halfpipe world titles in 2019 and 2021, but she was far from done breaking records.
Despite entering the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics out of form due to injury, she rose to the occasion and became the first female snowboarder to win back-to-back gold medals in the event.
Ailing Eileen Gu - People's Republic of China, freestyle skiing
Ailing Eileen Gu was arguably the stand out performer of the Lausanne 2020 YOG, winning gold medals in the big air and halfpipe, and a slopestyle silver.
The California-born athlete then transitioned to the senior ranks with aplomb, taking out two golds at the 2021 Winter X Games, before becoming the halfpipe and slopestyle world champion at Aspen 2021.
These successes meant that there was enormous pressure on her going into a home Olympic Games at Beijing 2022.
Showing maturity well beyond her 18 years, she stepped up to land gold medals in big air and halfpipe, as well as a slopestyle silver - the exact same results that she secured at Lausanne 2020.
Petra Vlhova - Slovakia, alpine skiing
Slovakian alpine ski sensation Petra Vlhova burst onto the world scene with an impressive slalom victory at the Innsbruck 2012 Winter YOG.
She later reflected, "That was a competition that gave me a lot of experience. When I won gold in slalom, that was when my career, everything started."
Two years later, aged 18, she made her Olympic debut at Sochi 2014, finishing 24th in the giant slalom and 19th in the slalom.
But she continued to work at her craft, and showed significant improvements at PyeongChang 2018, where she skied all six events and finishing fifth in the combined.
Over the next four years she developed an intense rivalry at the top of the sport against USA's Mikaela Shiffrin, which culminated in Vlovha becoming the giant slalom world champ in 2019, and the overall Crystal Globe winner in 2021.
At Beijing 2022, Vlhova became the first Slovakian to claim apline skiing Olympic gold in winning the slalom. She was in 8th place after the first round, but then produced the fastest run on the second leg to win gold by 0.08 seconds ahead of reigning world champion Katharina Liensberger.
Birk Ruud - Norway, freestyle skiing
Birk Ruud is one of the biggest names in freestyle skiing, and made his big break at the Lillehammer 2016 YOG.
Competing on home snow, the Norwegian landed a spectacular slopestyle gold.
Over the next two Olympic cycles, the Baerum-born athlete won four Big Air medals (including two gold) at the Winter X Games, and in 2019 he claimed slopestyle silver at the world championships.
But the best was yet to come, and Ruud was about to write history.
At Beijing 2022, the 21-year-old landed the first ever Big Air Olympic gold medal, scoring a combined score of 187.75. On his victory run, the classy shredder did a double 1440 mute holding the Norwegian flag, receiving a near-perfect score.
Kagiyama Yuma - Japan, figure skating
Kagiyama Yuma was given the honour of being Japan’s flag-bearer at the Lausanne 2020 YOG Opening Ceremony, before delivering gold in the men’s singles and silver in the mixed NOC team event.
Later that year the son of two-time Olympian, Kagiyama Masakazu, secured his first senior ISU championship podium with a third-place finish the prestigious Four Continents Championships.
The Yokohama-based athlete was named to Japan’s 2021 World Championships team alongside two-time Olympic champion Hanyu Yuzuru and current world champion (fellow YOG graduate) Uno Shoma, where he won the silver medal and became the youngest medalist at Worlds since Hanyu won bronze medal at the 2012 World Championships.
At Beijing 2022, and 18-year-old Kagiyama won silver in the men's singles and produced a stunning free skate to help Japan reach the podium in the Team Event.
Hwang Daeheon - Republic of Korea, short track speed skating
Hwang Daeheon arrived in Norway for the Lillehammer 2016 Winter YOG as a long-shot for gold.
But the South Korean shocked a star-studded field, including Hungary's Shaoang Liu, to win the boy's 1,000m title.
Just nine months later, Hwang was turned heads on the world circuit by setting a 1,000m world record of 1 minute 20.875 seconds in the quarter-final repechage of the ISU World Cup event in Salt Lake City, USA.
Skating on home ice at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics Hwang won silver in the men's 500m sprint, but managed to win the 500m world title in 2018 and 2019.
At Beijing 2022, he finally secured the one title missing from his cabinet - Olympic gold - by winning the men's 1500m. A very successful Games in China also saw him leave with silver in the 5000m relay and an Olympic record in the men's 1000m heats.
Other noteable mentions
Another noteable YOG star who blossomed at Beijing 2022 is German bobsledder Laura Nolte, who won monobob gold at the Lillehammer 2016 YOG and gold in the two-woman sled in China.
Meanwhile, her compatriot Victoria Carl, who won cross-country skiing / biathlon mixed team gold at the Innsbruck 2012 YOG, was part of the winning women's cross-country team sprint at Beijing 2022.
Another cross-country skiier in Sweden's Jonna Sundling finished second in the girl's sprint at the Innsbruck 2012 YOG, before winning the women's indivdual sprint Olympic gold medal in Beijing.
Lillehammer 2016 YOG short track speed skating bronze medallist Shaoang Liu became a household name in Hungary when he won Olympic gold as part of his nation's men's 500m relay team at PyeongChang 2018, before sealing the men's 500m sprint individual title at Beijing 2022.
Finally, Italian curling mixed doubles reigning Olympic champions Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner have both competed at the Winter Youth Olympic Games, with Mosaner winning silver in the mixed team event at Innsbruck 2012.