US Olympian Chloe Kim makes history with her most recent run
Fresh off her Olympic Gold medal at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, American snowboarder Chloe Kim accomplished something no one else in her sport has done.
On Saturday, the 17-year-old won the women’s half-pipe competition in the U.S. Open, one of the major snowboarding events in the world. With the win, Kim is the first women in the event to sweep her sport’s Grand Slam, winning the X Games, Olympics and U.S. Open in the same season.
Kim was not quite as spectacular as she was taking the gold at Pyeonchang, sitting in fifth place after two runs in the half-pipe.
But on her third and final run at Vail, Colorado, on Saturday, Kim nailed it, scoring a 85.8 to vault into first place, ahead of American Maddie Mastro.
Defending champ @chloekimsnow's winning run from today’s #BurtonUSOpen Women’s Halfpipe Finals. pic.twitter.com/oPFqOcjYZ8
— Burton Snowboards (@burtonsnowboard) March 10, 2018
It was not quite on par with her ridiculous 98.25 score on her final run at the Olympics, but it was enough to get the job done.
At the U.S. Open, Kim did a 1080, which is three spins in the air, followed by a 720, which is slightly less difficult.
At the Olympics, she did back-to-back 1080s — also a first.
“I feel like I was really pushing myself today. I had the best practice, landing solid back-to-back 10s. I was hoping I could put it down here in the contest, but I had to take a step back and play it a little safe,” said Kim after her win.
She tried the back-to-back 1080s on her first run at Vail, but fell on the second of the back-to-backs.
Here’s another first for Kim: She’s the first women to three-peat at the U.S. Open.
“I love this contest,” she said. “There’s just so many smiles on everyone’s faces here. It’s always the most fun contest of the season.”
And she’s just 17.
After dominating your sport like no other, what do you do for an encore?
For now, Kim is looking at attending college in the fall, but next season, she will be back competitng on the halfpipe.
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