Chloe Kim needed to pull off a massive final run to make Olympic history, but she was unable to do it.
The American snowboarding superstar fell on each of her final two runs and failed to claim her third straight gold medal in halfpipe Thursday at Livigno Snow Park in Milan, taking the silver medal instead of becoming the first to ever accomplish the three-peat feat.
The 25-year-old California native was overtaken for the gold in the third round by 17-year-old Choi Ga-on of South Korea.
Kim earned halfpipe gold at 17 in PyeongChang in 2018 and again in Beijing in 2022, instantly establishing herself as the darling of the sport. Men’s snowboarding legend Shaun White won three Olympic golds in halfpipe, but not in three consecutive Games.
With boyfriend and NFL star Myles Garrett looking on, Kim executed a switch double cork 1080 on her first of three runs to take the lead among the 12 finalists with a score of 88.00.
Only the best of a snowboarder’s three runs counts towards the standings, and that ended up being the best for Kim, whose lead held up until Choi received a 90.25 on her third attempt to take the lead.
“I love Ga-on so much. I’ve known her since she was a very small child,” Kim told reporters afterward. “Seeing her at this big stage is such a full-circle moment. I definitely feel old, but it’s really cool to see how much she’s progressed. I met her when she literally started halfpipe snowboarding. Sometimes it feels like I’m seeing a mirror reflection of myself and my family.
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“Her dad is so on top of it, her mum is also so supportive. It’s really so cool to see another Korean girl out here killing it. We’re seeing a big shift to Asians being dominant in snow sports. I’ve had aunts telling me that I shouldn’t snowboard, get a real career, focus on school. It’s cool to see that shift happening.”
Kim nearly had to sit out the Milan Cortina Games after she suffered a shoulder injury during a training run last month in Switzerland.
Still, she was medically cleared earned the top spot among 24 competitors in Wednesday’s qualifying round with a score of 90.25.
“It hasn’t popped out since it happened, which is awesome,” Kim said earlier this week about her shoulder. “I feel like it’s trending towards the right direction. I will need surgery after this event, though. But it feels really good.”
“I’m just going to do what I came here to do, and if they decide to give it to me, then awesome. But I’m really just grateful to be in the position where I’ve won all these events multiple times. The fact that I’m able to be here and riding and being confident is all I can ask for.”
