PyeongChang 2018: Halfpipe winner Chloe Kim in a class of her own

The question was not whether Chloe Kim would win the women’s snowboard halfpipe event at the 2018 Winter Olympics, but by how much.

The 17-year-old Californian had already recorded a score of 93.75 points in the first of three runs in the finals. That alone was good enough for gold – putting her four points ahead of second-place finisher Liu Jiayu of China – so she could have cruised in her finale. But after wiping out in her second of three runs, Kim wanted to make more history.

The Winter Games in Pyeongchang marked Chloe Kim’s Olympic debut – in 2014, at age 13, she was too young to compete in Sochi. (photo by Yuan-Kwan Chan / Meniscus Magazine)

No female snowboarder had landed consecutive 1080-degree spins at the Olympic Games. Kim, who was the first female snowboarder to accomplish this feat at the 2016 U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix, nailed the turns at the end of her third run, recorded 98.25 points, and became the youngest-ever winner of the women’s Olympic halfpipe event. Teammate Arielle Gold captured the bronze medal behind Liu, and longtime women’s snowboarding pioneer Kelly Clark came in fourth.

Chloe Kim greets fans after capturing the gold medal in PyeongChang. (photo by Yuan-Kwan Chan / Meniscus Magazine)

Kim followed up her Olympic gold medal with two World Cup wins and a victory at the 2019 World Snowboard Halfpipe Championships before breaking her ankle at the U.S. Open in March. Off the snow, a Mattel doll has been made in her likeness, and she has been accepted to Princeton University (deferred enrollment for the time being).

Photos: Chloe Kim – 2018 Winter Olympics
all photos by Yuan-Kwan Chan / Meniscus Magazine