PYEONGCHANG, South Korea -- South Korean alpine snowboarding ace Lee Sang-ho won the silver medal in the men’s parallel giant slalom at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics on Saturday.

Lee lost to Nevin Galmarini of Switzerland by 0.43 second in the gold medal contest and claimed the silver medal at Phoenix Snow Park in PyeongChang, Gangwon Province. He is now the first Asian man to make a podium finish at an Olympic alpine snowboarding event and the first South Korean to claim a Winter Games medal from skiing sports. 

Lee finished third in the qualifying round to reach the knockout stage of the top 16 contestants. He first edged out Dmitry Sarsembaev, an Olympic Athlete from Russia, in the round of 16, and later knocked out Benjamin Karl of Austria in the quarterfinals.

Lee advanced to the “big final,” which determines the gold medal winner, after beating Zan Kosir of Slovenia in the semifinals.

Of the other South Korean competitors, Kim Sang-kyum was knocked out in the round of 16 by Kosir, while Choi Bo-gun failed to make it to the finals after finishing 26th among 32 contestants.

In the head-to-head elimination round, two snowboarders at a time race side-by-side down parallel courses, with the fastest rider advancing to the next round. (Yonhap)