American Chloe Kim soars to halfpipe gold
Topping herself with bold final run, American Kim, 17, glitters with gold
PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — Gold medal already in hand and Olympic dream fully realized, Chloe Kim could have turned her third and final run in the women’s snowboarding final into a victory lap.
Only she didn’t. She couldn’t. Gold medals are nice and all, but to the 17-year-old star who already is stamping herself as an all-time great, the journey — not the destination — is the point. It’s about proving something.
“I knew that if I went home with a gold medal knowing I could do better, I wasn’t going to be satisfied,” Kim said.
Kim turned her coronation into an exclamation point, stomping a pair of 1080 spins (three complete turns) in her final run Tuesday, then practically diving into a hug with American teammate and bronze-medal winner Ari-
elle Gold to seal a moment four years in the making.
“I don’t really know what’s happening, and I’m actually feeling a little anxious right now,” Kim said. “I’m a little overwhelmed. But this is the best outcome I could ever ask for. … Going home with the gold is amazing.” So is her riding. Competing in front of her extended family, a group that included her Korean-born parents and her South Korean grandmother, and apparently on an empty stomach — she actually tweeted during the competition that she was “hangry” after failing to finish her breakfast sandwich — Kim put on a show that delivered on her considerable preOlympic hype. She put together a 93.75 during her first run, one that included just one 1080, not the two that have become her trademark. No matter. The perfection-flirting third run provided a cathartic exclamation point.
“I knew that I did put down a really good first run, but I was also like, ‘I can do better than that. I can one-up myself,’ ” Kim said. She’s the only one. Liu Jiayu took silver with an 89.75 to become the first Chinese snowboarder to medal at the Olympics. Gold, who pondered retirement last summer, overcame a dislocated shoulder suffered during training to edge teammate and three-time Olympic medalist Kelly Clark for third. Gold brushed off a fall during her first run and stopped an 85.75 on her third. Clark couldn’t quite catch her with an 83.50.
Kim’s parents were born in South Korea and moved to the United States, putting their daughter in an interesting position heading into her first Olympics.
While she understands the urge to build a narrative around her that turns her into a connective tissue of sorts between the host country and the one she calls home, it’s one she has politely sidestepped. She views herself as just a kid from Torrance, Calif., who likes music, the mall, ice cream and, oh, by the way, putting down the kind of gravity-escaping, physics-challenging runs that have made her a dominant force in her sport.
Kim would have made the Olympic team with ease four years ago, only to have the calendar get in the way. She was 13 at the time, too young to make the trip to Russia. She entered the quadrennium between the Games with the kind of expectations reserved for the Shaun Whites of the snowboarding world. She has exceeded every one.
Kim drilled her opening set, throwing in a 1080 before following it with a pair of flips (or “corks”). Kim celebrated at the end, pumping her fists as “USA! USA!” chants rained down. When her score flashed, she clasped her hands atop her head and drank in the moment.
Liu came closest to providing Kim with a serious threat but washed out on her last trip down the longest Olympic halfpipe since the sport made its debut in 1998. But rather than play it safe on her last run, Kim went for it.
“You don’t want to live in regret,” she said. “I feel like no regrets is the best way to go.”