Chloe Kim’s Golden Reign Ends, but Her Legacy Soars Higher Than the Halfpipe
LIVIGNO, Italy - For a moment, it looked like Chloe Kim was going to do it again. One clean run, a score of 88.00, and suddenly the three-peat was in sight.
Snow was falling, competitors were tumbling, and Kim was, as she’s so often been, calm and composed at the top of the leaderboard. But then came a 17-year-old from South Korea with ice in her veins and a run that rewrote the script.
Choi Gaon, unfazed by a hard fall on her opening attempt, delivered a stunning final performance that earned her a 90.25 - enough to knock Kim off the top spot and claim Olympic gold. Just like that, Kim’s bid to become the first snowboarder - male or female - to win three consecutive Olympic halfpipe titles was over.
Kim, the last rider to drop in, had one more shot to reclaim gold. She started strong, but midway through the run, she went down.
No miracle comeback this time. Just the end of an era - and the beginning of another.
Let’s be clear: Kim didn’t lose this one. Choi won it.
Under pressure, in the biggest moment of her young career, the teenager landed a run that will be remembered for years to come. And Kim, ever the class act, was one of the first to show her support.
After Choi’s early crash, Kim had gone over to her and offered a simple but powerful message: “You got this. You’re a badass snowboarder.”
That wasn’t just sportsmanship - it was a passing of the torch.
Kim, now 25, has been the face of women’s halfpipe snowboarding for nearly a decade, winning Olympic gold in 2018 and 2022. A third straight title would’ve put her in uncharted territory.
Shaun White has three Olympic halfpipe golds, but his were spread across four Games. Kim was chasing something even rarer - sustained dominance at the highest level, without a misstep.
And for a while on Thursday, it looked like she had it. As the snow picked up in Livigno, the halfpipe turned into a minefield.
Seven of the 12 finalists fell in their first run, including fellow Americans Bea Kim and Maddie Mastro. But Chloe Kim came through with a clean, technical run that earned her an 88.00 - three full points ahead of the field, including eventual bronze medalist Mitsuki Ono.
It felt like déjà vu. Kim on top, the rest chasing.
But then Choi dropped in for her final run, and everything changed. Her 90.25 wasn’t just a high score - it was a statement.
It forced Kim to be perfect. And when she couldn’t be, the gold slipped away.
Still, for Kim, this silver medal might mean more than either of her golds. A month ago, she wasn’t even sure she’d be in Italy.
After Beijing in 2022, she battled through a deep depression, stepping away from the sport to take care of herself. Then, just weeks before these Games, she slammed into the wall of a halfpipe in Switzerland and tore her left shoulder’s labrum.
It was a low-grade tear, but the timing couldn’t have been worse.
So when she stood on the podium Thursday, tears in her eyes, it wasn’t about the color of the medal. It was about everything it took to get there.
“A month ago I wasn’t even sure I would be here … this medal means so much to me,” she said, voice cracking.
As for the rest of Team USA, it was a mixed bag. Maddie Mastro, who just missed the final four years ago in Beijing, couldn’t find her rhythm this time either.
She fell on all three runs and finished 12th. Bea Kim, just 19, shook off a tough first run to post a solid 77.00 on her second, good enough for eighth - a promising sign for the future.
But this day belonged to two riders: the legend who gave everything to be here, and the teenager who seized her moment.
Chloe Kim may not have made history with a third straight gold, but she did something just as powerful - she reminded us that greatness isn’t just about winning. Sometimes, it’s about showing up, fighting through, and lifting others up along the way.
And as the snow settled in Livigno, a new queen of the halfpipe was crowned - with the reigning one right there to cheer her on.