Chloe Kim Chases Olympic History With Torn Shoulder

Chloe Kim is going for something no halfpipe snowboarder has ever done: win three Olympic gold medals in a row. But she's doing it with a torn labrum in her shoulder and barely two weeks of practice.

The 25-year-old American tore the ring of cartilage lining her shoulder socket while training in Switzerland in late January. She had already pulled out of a World Cup event in Colorado after a crash weeks earlier.

Kim resumed training just two weeks ago, wearing a securely taped shoulder brace that she jokes might actually be improving her riding. "I can't move my trailing arm as much as I normally would," she told reporters at a press conference in Italy. "I think it's made me more steady."

The Olympics mark Kim's first competition of the season. She qualified for the Games a year in advance, which gave her flexibility to focus on healing rather than competing through the injury.

When Kim won her first gold in PyeongChang at age 17, she became the youngest woman ever to win an Olympic snowboard medal. She defended that title in Beijing in 2022, where she scored so high in her first run that falls in the second and third runs couldn't keep gold away.

Since Beijing, Kim has racked up two more X Games gold medals, two World Cups, and a world championship in 2025. Now she's bringing a run to Milan Cortina that she's never attempted before in competition.

Why This Inspires

Kim's perspective on competition has matured along with her brain. "I'm the proud owner of a frontal lobe now," she joked, referring to the part of the brain that handles decision-making and emotional control.

Her secret to handling pre-competition anxiety? Reminding herself that every run is a fresh start. "Just because I had an hour of bad snowboarding doesn't mean that the next 45 seconds are also going to be bad," she said.

Kim's biggest competition might come from 17-year-old Korean snowboarder Gaon Choi, who has called Kim her idol. The full-circle moment isn't lost on Kim, whose parents emigrated from Korea. "I met her when she literally started halfpipe snowboarding," Kim said. "Sometimes it feels like I'm seeing a mirror reflection of myself and my family."

Despite everything working against her this season, Kim says she'll be content if she can land the new run she's planned, regardless of where she places. But muscle memory, family support, and years of dominance suggest the injury might not slow her down as much as anyone expects.

Kim competes in Wednesday's qualifier alongside three other Americans, with the medal event following on Thursday.