In LIVIGNO, Italy, Chloe Kim’s dominance as the Olympic halfpipe titleholder concluded in a truly surprising manner.
Gaon Choi from South Korea, following alarming tumbles during her initial two attempts, rebounded with an exceptional score of 90.25, surpassing Kim. Kim’s opening run score of 88.00 appeared secure for an extended period, especially as competitors grappled with challenging, slippery, and snow-laden conditions.
This placed considerable pressure on Kim to perform during her final chance, as she aimed to be the inaugural snowboarder to secure three consecutive gold medals.
However, she couldn’t achieve this feat, experiencing a fall on her third attempt and ultimately earning a silver medal. Mitsuki Ono of Japan secured the bronze.
Choi, at 17 years old, had been identified as Kim’s primary challenger in the competition and indeed emerged as a standout performer at the Olympic Games. Her victory on Thursday was not unexpected, given she had previously claimed X Games gold in this discipline at the age of 14. Nevertheless, it occurred after a severe fall during her initial run, necessitating medical assessment at the halfpipe’s base. She managed to descend the slope independently and persisted in the event.
A subsequent fall on her second effort paved the way for her remarkable ascent to victory on her ultimate try.
Having triumphed on Thursday at 17 years and 101 days of age, Choi is now officially the youngest snowboarding gold medalist ever. The previous record holder was American snowboarder Red Gerard, who achieved his 2018 slopestyle victory at 17 years and 227 days old.
Despite any potential disappointment, Kim displayed no visible signs of it on the podium, beaming with a smile as she received a silver medal for the first time in her career. She had previously secured gold in PyeongChang in 2018 as a teenager, then followed that with another stellar showing in Beijing.
In Italy, she was on the verge of claiming a third consecutive victory, an accomplishment that eluded even the legendary Shaun White. The gold medal seemed within her grasp after two runs, until Choi executed an extraordinary run, arguably the best of her career.
