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MILAN — Chloe Kim was just 17 when she won halfpipe gold at the 2018 PyeongChang Games, becoming the youngest woman to win an Olympic snowboard medal. She made history again when she won her second — also gold — in Beijing.
Now 25 and the "proud owner of a frontal lobe," Kim is hoping to three-peat, a feat that no halfpipe snowboarder has ever done.
But it won't be easy, especially since Kim is coming into the Olympics with a shoulder injury that kept her from training in recent weeks.
"I have so much anxiety, but thankfully I have matcha and there's good vibes here and my family's out here, so we'll be good," Kim said ahead of Wednesday's qualifier.
She tore her labrum — a ring of cartilage lining the shoulder socket — while training in Switzerland in late January, just weeks after a crash during practice forced her to pull out of a World Cup event in Colorado. The Olympics are actually the first competition of the season for Kim, who qualified a year in advance.
Kim told reporters that she resumed training about two weeks ago, rocking a "very securely taped" shoulder brace. She feels like the brace has made her riding better, perhaps more steady, because she can't move her trailing arm as much as she normally would.
"I think once we're in there and once we're focusing on what we want to do, the tricks we want to do, everything, my mind goes completely blank," Kim added. "I'm not thinking about my shoulder. I'm just thinking about what I'm trying to accomplish in this run. And yeah, it's been working out pretty well."
Kim recalled that she had an "awful practice" right before her competition in Beijing, where she scored so high in her first run that even falls in the second and third didn't keep her from a gold medal. Kim says while she's always anxious waiting at the top, she's confident that her muscle memory will kick in.
"I just like to remind myself that every run is a new run, a brand new opportunity, and just because I had an hour of bad snowboarding doesn't mean that the next 45 seconds are also going to be bad," she added.
Kim remained dominant in the years after Beijing, picking up two more X Games gold medals, two World Cups and a third world championship in 2025.
She says her run for the Olympics is one she's never done before.
"I think if I'm able to pull that off, regardless of where I place, I'll be really content with that," Kim said. "But yeah, everything's feeling good. I have all the pieces done and dialed, so I just need to put everything all together."
Kim is one of two dozen women who will take to the halfpipe on Wednesday to fight for a spot in Thursday's medal event. There will be three other Americans among them: Bea Kim, Maddie Mastro and Maddy Schaffrick.
Despite her injury, Kim is still considered a favorite for gold. One of her biggest threats could come from Korea's Gaon Choi, who is 17 — the age Kim was when she won her first Olympics. Choin has described Kim as her idol.
Kim was full of praise for Choi, whom she has known for years. She called this a full-circle moment, adding that it does make her feel old.
"I met her when she literally started halfpipe snowboarding," said Kim, whose parents emigrated from Korea. "Sometimes it feels like I'm seeing a mirror reflection of myself and my family."
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