Los Angeles, United States, Feb 1, 2026 (AFP) -Chloe Kim arrives at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on the brink of a historic third straight women’s halfpipe gold, her decade-long snowboard dominance defined by as many twists as her gravity-defying tricks.
The latest unexpected turn came just a month before the Games, when the 25-year-old American suffered a torn labrum in one shoulder in a fall in training. “I haven’t gotten nearly the amount of reps that I would have liked, but that’s OK,” Kim said in announcing one week later that she was “good to go” for the Olympics.
“It’s funny I’ve been doing this for so long, and every season I’ve met different challenges,” said Kim, who was making waves in the sport long before she captured her first Olympic gold, at 17, at the 2018 PyeongChang Games.
She became the first woman to win two gold medals in halfpipe when she triumphed at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. She owns three halfpipe world titles and eight Winter X Games golds, building an imposing portfolio of tricks that has expanded the possibilities of her sport.
But Kim, who was just 13 years old when she won her first X Games medal, a silver in 2014, has also found herself disillusioned with the realities of fame, temporarily stepping away from competition after both of her Olympic victories.
