HIGH & MIGHTY
Chloe Kim, 17, fulfills destiny as she flies to halfpipe 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, the journey is the point, not the destination. It’s about proving something. Not to quiet whatever doubters may remain in a sport where she’s stamping herself as an all-time great as a teenager, but to herself.
So she went for it. She had no choice.
“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.
That shouldn’t be a problem. Kim turned her coronation into an exclamation point, stomping a pair of 1080 spins (three complete turns), then practically diving into a hug with American teammate and bronze medal winner Arielle 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 and it’s been such a long journey. Ahhh, just going home with the gold is amazing.”
It was the third snowboarding gold for the U.S. and the second for a 17-year-old as she followed Red Gerard, who won men’s slopestyle on Sunday, to the top of the podium. Jamie Anderson, 27, won her second straight Olympic slopestyle gold on Monday.
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 pre-Olympic 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 f irst 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 .83.50. 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. 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, California, who likes music, the mall, ice cream and, oh, by the way, putting down the kind of gravity-escaping, physics challenging runs that in have her made sport. her a dominant force Kim would have made the Olympic team with ease four years ago, only to have the calendar get in the way. She was 13 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.
Standing atop the hill at calm and brilliant Phoenix Snow Park — a stark contrast to the windy mess that turned the women’s slopestyle f inal into an ugly, borderline unsafe and crash-filled mess 24 hours earlier — Kim looked down at the crowd that included her parents, three sisters, three aunts, two cousins and her grandmother Moon Jung ae and proceeded to waste little time while turning the final into a global coming-out party. She drilled her opening set, throwing in a 1080 — basically, three twists high above the pipe — 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. Kim’s teammates made serious bids to give the Americans only their fourth-ever Olympic podium sweep. Gold, who dislocated her right shoulder during t ra i ni ng for the Sochi Olympics and didn’t compete then barely made the 12-woman final, brushed off a fall during her first run and stomped an 85.75 on her third run. Clark, going the quite 2002 strong catch Olympic at Gold age champion 34, with couldn’t an still at