(Photo credit: REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes)

LIVIGNO, Italy -- Choi Ga-on of South Korea won the gold medal in the women's snowboard halfpipe after recovering from a frightening crash in her first run at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics on Thursday.

Double defending champion Chloe Kim of the United States took silver and the bronze went to Mitsuki Ono of Japan in the Alpine town of Livigno.

Choi, 17, was nearly knocked out of the contest after the first round when she flipped upside down and landed on her head. She sat on the ground for several minutes as medical staff attended to her before standing up and riding down on her own.

In the second round of three, she flubbed a landing and fell backward.

In the third round, Choi put a stunning 90.25 on the board, elevating her above Kim's leading 88.

Kim, recovering from a recent shoulder injury, had a final chance to grab the gold but fell backward on a landing. Choi began crying when she realized Kim's misstep guaranteed her the gold.

The halfpipe features riders sliding across a 22-foot-tall, U-shaped ramp and performing acrobatic maneuvers in the air. Kim took halfpipe gold in Pyeongchang in 2018 and at Beijing 2022.

No snowboarder - not even men's great Shaun White - has been able to win three straight Olympic golds. White, who was in the crowd on Thursday night, claimed three but they were in 2006, 2010 and 2018. He is now retired from the sport.

While Kim missed out on a three-peat, she smiled and laughed at the bottom of the halfpipe as she stood with the other medalists.

Kim was competing with her shoulder held in place by a brace and has said she will need surgery soon.

A steady snow fell during the contest. Seven of the 12 riders fell during the first round.

--Reuters, special to Field Level Media