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 afterwards. “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.
.png)
0 Comments