The Olympics, more than any other sporting event, has a way of anointing young stars quickly. Nobody knows that more than Chloe Kim, who trounced the snowboarding halfpipe field at age 17 in 2018 and repeated in 2022 to become a global star.
But on Thursday, Kim, now an elder stateswoman at 25, was on the receiving end of that phenomenon. She was upset in heavy snow by a new star 17-year-old, Choi Gaon of South Korea, who edged her out for the gold medal.
Kim had missed much of the season after a shoulder tear. She wore a brace in the competition and will have surgery after the Games. Still, she nailed her first run, including a switch double cork 1080, three full rotations in the air, a trick among the most difficult any woman can land. She took the lead.
She fell late in the second run, but with only the best run counting, and many of the other snowboarders falling, she held the lead with seemingly little worry.
Choi, who had been expected to be Kim’s chief rival, hit the lip of the half pipe on her first run and fell heavily. She was treated on the snow and was able to board away. Though it was initially announced she would skip her second run, she tried, but fell again.
But on her third run, she bounced back with a clean run that included three 900s, and remarkably took the lead. That left Kim needing a big run to get her third straight gold. But another fall late in the run ended her hopes for the three-peat.
Victor Mather, who has been a reporter and editor at The Times for 25 years, covers sports and breaking news.
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