MILAN — With a hug, Chloe Kim passed the torch.
The snowboarding superstar didn’t complete the Olympic three-peat, settling for silver in the women’s halfpipe on Thursday at Livigno Snow Park. But after South Korea’s Gaon Choi stormed back from a nasty fall in her first run to win her country’s first Olympic gold medal in snowboarding, Chloe Kim raced into the crowd to find the 17-year-old rider.
She pulled Choi into a tight embrace. The next snowboarding star has arrived.
“She’s my baby,” Kim said smiling at a news conference after the competition. “… I’m so proud of her. Now I think I kind of know how my mentors felt when I came on the stage.”
Another Kim protege, U.S. teammate Bea Kim, finished eighth in the final Thursday in her first Olympics. Countrywoman Maddie Mastro failed to land a successful run after falling three times on her signature double crippler, the skill she mastered seven years ago when she became the first woman to land it in a halfpipe.
Choi met Kim at an Olympic test event in 2017 before the Pyeongchang Olympics. Kim and her family helped Choi begin training with the Mammoth Mountain snowboarding club. The South Korean rider started traveling to Southern California with her parents to train and immediately proved her potential by going undefeated in the halfpipe in her first year of junior-level competition with the International Ski and Snowboard Federation. This year, she’s leading the World Cup standings with three wins.
While Choi surged onto the international stage this winter, Kim was barely able to train. She dislocated her shoulder twice within a four-week period, including one month ago while training in Switzerland. Suddenly it wasn’t about whether she could become the first snowboarder to win three consecutive Olympic gold medals. Kim didn’t know if she could compete at all.
“A month ago I wasn’t even sure if I would be here,” Kim said as tears welled in her eyes. “I could get emotional thinking about it. But I really worked so hard to get here so this medal means so much to me.”
Choi came into the competition as a potential dark horse to knock the two-time defending champion off the Olympic throne. But she came down on the lip of the halfpipe on her first run and tumbled almost headfirst toward the icy surface. Choi injured her knee in the fall, but said at a news conference she had no hesitation about returning to competition.
Kim, who said she will get surgery on her shoulder and was limited to less than 10 days of training on the snow this winter because of the injury, approached Choi after the fall. She told her, “you can do this.”
“Chloe has been my role model, she has been my idol,” Choi said through an interpreter. “When I was injured in the first run, she came and encouraged me and comforted me and she gave me a hug. It felt so warm and I was so happy.”
Choi rebounded to score 90.25 points on her final run, putting her in front of the 88-point run Kim scored on her first conservative run. Trailing at an Olympics for the first time, Kim wasn’t anxious.
Snowboarder Gaon Choi celebrates after winning the gold medal in the halfpipe on Thursday.
(Cameron Spencer / Getty Images)
She was excited.
“It means so much to me to know that I’ve inspired a whole new generation,” the 25-year-old said. “I’m aware that I can’t do that forever and I think seeing that this sport is left in really good hands — I mean … [Choi is] talented, but she works hard and I think that’s why she is as amazing as she is today.”
Kim flashed two thumbs-up to her coaching team before dropping in on the last run. But she fell on her third attempt at a double cab 1080.
The double-flipping, triple-twisting trick is one that Kim never thought she would try. When she was 15, Kim became the first woman to land consecutive 1080s in a run. She was so far ahead of her competition for so long that Kim started resenting the sport because she wasn’t satisfied with just winning competitions with the same runs. The progression of other riders inspired her to keep advancing. After never thinking she would attempt a double cork, she attempted consecutive double cork 1080s in a single run, nearly landing it on her second run.
“I wanted to do what felt good for me,” Kim said, “and in doing so, it allowed me to fall in love with the sport again. So [I’m a] happy camper.”
At the bottom of the halfpipe, Choi threw her arms in the air. Kim hugged bronze medalist Mitsuki Ono of Japan before running through the crowd to congratulate Choi, who was celebrating with Kim’s family. Kim’s father was wearing a zip-up hoodie with a picture of his daughter from the 2018 Olympics, where she became the youngest woman to win an Olympic gold medal in snowboarding.
Choi is now the same age.
Kim’s Olympic debut launched her into superstardom at 17. She became a rare crossover star, growing her influence into fashion and media. A correspondent from the media company she helped found with Alex Morgan, Simone Manuel and Sue Bird asked her a question at the news conference, referring to Kim as “boss.” Her career and life have expanded well beyond the 22-foot walls of the halfpipe since her first gold medal. Eight years later, Kim said she hopes Choi can embrace the moment.
During their post-competition embrace, Kim said she was going to retire, Choi said at the news conference. But she wasn’t sure if Kim was joking.
