Chloe Kim Becomes First Woman To Win Back-To-Back Golds In Olympic Snowboard Halfpipe

Chloe Kim reacts after landing her first run during the women's snowboard halfpipe finals at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 on Feb. 10, 2022 in Zhangjiakou, China.

And try something new she did.

Kim attempted a new line in her second and third runs knowing that her 94.00 score separated her from the rest of the field. The snowboarder started both runs the same, going for a method air and frontside 1080 tail grab for her first two tricks, similar to the first run.

She then followed those up with a cab 1260 attempt, trying to become the first woman to land one in halfpipe competition, but fell on the landing both times.

“I’m really excited I did it, wish I landed it but next time,” said Kim about the failed cab 1260 attempts. “I just learned those pretty recently and I’ve been doing quite a bit of them, but I haven’t really done them in this halfpipe [yet], so I was curious to see what would happen. Definitely didn’t go my way but that’s okay.”

Kim’s second- and third-run falls did not matter. Her score ultimately held on, making her the second athlete to take home gold at the Winter Games for Team USA. (The other one being won by Lindsey Jacobellis in the women’s snowboard cross finals.) The U.S. women have now won gold in five of the last six Winter Games. 

Spain’s Queralt Castellet landed a 90.25 in her second run trying to close the gap but was still out of gold-medal contention by 3.75 points, placing her in silver. Japan’s Sena Tomita would round out the podium with bronze following a score of 88.25.

Kim was the lone competitor from Team USA in the finals as U.S. teammates Maddie Mastro (13th), Tessa Maud (16th) and Zoe Kalapos (17th) failed to qualify Wednesday.

Kim came back into Beijing 2022 as the defending snowboard halfpipe gold medalist from the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018. She then took almost a two-year break from snowboarding following a broken ankle injury. Kim took the time to heal and enrolled at Princeton University. 

She returned to competition like she never left in January 2021, winning a series of events leading up until the Beijing Games: The Laax Open in Switzerland, and X Games Aspen and Dew Tour in Colorado. Her form continued into early 2022, where she repeated as halfpipe champion at the 2022 Laax Open.

Now, she’s returned more prepared than ever, reclaiming her Olympic halfpipe crown.

I [was] more prepared this time,” said Kim in response to how this Games experience has been compared to 2018. “Luckily, it was a learning experience the last time. … I mean we’re at the Olympics, a lot of nerves here. And the fact that everyone was able to overcome that and land the runs of their lives is just so impressive. I’m so proud of everyone, and I’m honestly so honored to be a part of women’s halfpipe snowboarding.”

Continue to follow the snowboard halfpipe action as Shaun White, Taylor Gold and Chase Josey take on their finals Friday at 8:30 p.m. ET.