Updated February 11, 2026 at 7:41 AM EST
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MILAN — Chloe Kim was just 17 when she won halfpipe gold at the 2018 PyeongChang Games, becoming the youngest woman to win an Olympic snowboard medal. She made history again when she won her second — also gold — in Beijing.
Now 25 and the "proud owner of a frontal lobe," Kim is hoping to three-peat, a feat that no halfpipe snowboarder has ever done.
Kim got one step closer on Wednesday, when she finished first in the qualifying round to easily secure her spot in Thursday's final.
"I'm honestly really happy with who I've become and I feel like going into these Games I just felt really at ease, calm and I know what I'm here to do," she said afterward.
Out of some two dozen competitors, she was the only one who scored above 90 (out of 100). She will be joined in the final round by fellow Americans Maddie Mastro and Bea Kim, who finished third and tenth. They advance without teammate Maddy Shaffrick, who reached her first Olympics over a decade after her teenage retirement but fell just outside the top 12.
Kim's characteristically stylish performance assuaged worries about a recent shoulder injury that had kept her from training in the weeks leading up the Games. Kim said Wednesday that her shoulder is trending in the right direction, but she will need surgery after the Olympics.
"Honestly, I'm just happy to be here because for a little bit a couple months ago it wasn't looking too certain," Kim said. "So I'm just really stoked that I was able to make it out and make it through qualifiers."
She tore her labrum — a ring of cartilage lining the shoulder socket — while training in Switzerland in late January, just weeks after a crash during practice forced her to pull out of a World Cup event in Colorado. The Olympics are actually the first competition of the season for Kim, who qualified a year in advance.
Kim told reporters on Monday that she resumed training about two weeks ago, rocking a "very securely taped" shoulder brace. She feels like the brace has made her riding better, perhaps more steady, because she can't move her trailing arm as much as she normally would.
"I think once we're in there and once we're focusing on what we want to do, the tricks we want to do, everything, my mind goes completely blank," Kim added. "I'm not thinking about my shoulder. I'm just thinking about what I'm trying to accomplish in this run. And yeah, it's been working out pretty well."
Kim recalled that she had an "awful practice" right before her competition in Beijing, where she scored so high in her first run that even falls in the second and third didn't keep her from a gold medal. Kim says while she's always anxious waiting at the top, she's confident that her muscle memory will kick in.
"I just like to remind myself that every run is a new run, a brand new opportunity, and just because I had an hour of bad snowboarding doesn't mean that the next 45 seconds are also going to be bad," she added.
Kim remained dominant in the years after Beijing, picking up two more X Games gold medals, two World Cups and a third world championship in 2025.
She says her run for the Olympics is one she's never done before.
"I think if I'm able to pull that off, regardless of where I place, I'll be really content with that," Kim said. "But yeah, everything's feeling good. I have all the pieces done and dialed, so I just need to put everything all together."
Despite her injury, Kim is still considered a favorite for gold. One of her biggest threats could come from Korea's Gaon Choi, who is 17 — the age Kim was when she won her first Olympics. Choi has described Kim as her idol. Choi is also headed to the final after placing sixth on Wednesday.
Kim was full of praise for Choi, whom she has known for years, at Monday's press conference. She called this a full-circle moment, adding that it does make her feel old.
"I met her when she literally started halfpipe snowboarding," said Kim, whose parents emigrated from Korea. "Sometimes it feels like I'm seeing a mirror reflection of myself and my family."
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