Chloe Kim
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Chloe Kim (born April 23, 2000) is an American
snowboarder Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympi ...
and two-time Olympic gold medalist. At the
2018 Winter Olympics , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , winte ...
, she became the youngest woman to win an Olympic snowboarding gold medal when she won gold in the women's
snowboard halfpipe Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympi ...
at 17 years old. At the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, she became the first woman to win two gold medals in halfpipe. She is a six-time
X Games The X Games are an annual extreme sports event organized, produced and broadcast by ESPN. Coverage is also shown on ESPN's sister network, ABC. The inaugural X Games were held during the summer of 1995 in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island, ...
gold medalist and the first woman to win two gold medals in snowboarding at the Winter
Youth Olympic Games The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) is an international multi-sport event for athletes between 15 and 18 years old, organized by the International Olympic Committee. The games are held every four years in staggered summer and winter events consisten ...
. She is the World, Olympic, Youth Olympic, and X Games champion in the halfpipe and the first to win the title at all four major events.


Early life

Kim was born on April 23, 2000, in
Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...
, and raised in nearby Torrance. She has two older sisters named Erica and Tracy. Her parents are from South Korea. Kim's father started her on a snowboard at age four at the
southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...
resort of
Mountain High Mountain High resort is a winter resort in the San Gabriel Mountains in Los Angeles County in California. Mountain High is one of the most-visited resorts in Southern California. The resort is located along State Route 2 west of Wrightwood, Cali ...
; she started competing at age six as a member of Team Mountain High. She spent third and fourth grade studying and training in
Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
, Switzerland where her aunt lived, before returning to California and training at
Mammoth Mountain Mammoth Mountain is a lava dome complex partially located within the town of Mammoth Lakes, California, in the Inyo National Forest of Madera and Mono Counties. It is home to a large ski area primarily on the Mono County side. Mammoth Mount ...
. She is fluent in French, English and Korean. Kim's father quit his job to drive her to the mountains and also to be able to travel with her when she competes. Chloe Kim went to Dana Middle School. Kim joined the U.S. Snowboarding Team in 2013.


Career


X Games

While too young to compete in the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, Kim earned a silver medal in
superpipe A superpipe is a large halfpipe structure used in extreme sports such as snowboarding, freestyle skiing, skateboarding, scooters, freestyle BMX and vert skating. Overview For winter sports, the term ''superpipe'' is used to describe a halfpipe ...
in the 2014
Winter X Games Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultures d ...
behind
Kelly Clark Kelly Clark (born July 26, 1983) is an American snowboarder who won halfpipe gold at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Clark was born in Newport, Rhode Island. She started snowboarding when she was 7 years old, began competing in 1999, and became a me ...
. In 2015, Chloe won Gold in the superpipe at the Winter X Games, besting Clark. With this win, at age 14, Kim became the youngest gold medalist until she lost the record to
Kelly Sildaru Kelly Sildaru (; born 17 February 2002) is an Estonian Olympic Games, Olympic Freestyle skiing, freestyle skier. Biography Sildaru won a gold medal in the slopestyle event in the Winter X Games XX, 2016 Winter X Games beating Tiril Sjåstad C ...
, who won gold in 2016 at the age of 13. In the 2016 X Games, she became the first person under the age of 16 to win two gold medals (and also the first person to win back-to-back gold medals) at an X Games. At that year's U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix, Kim became the first woman to land back-to-back 1080 spins in a snowboarding competition. She scored a perfect 100 points and is the second rider ever to do so, after
Shaun White Shaun Roger White (born September 3, 1986) is an American former professional snowboarder and skateboarder. He is a five-time Olympian and a three-time Olympic gold medalist in half-pipe snowboarding. He holds the world record for the most X G ...
.


2016 Winter Youth Olympics

In 2016, Kim became the first American woman to win a gold medal in snowboarding at the Winter
Youth Olympic Games The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) is an international multi-sport event for athletes between 15 and 18 years old, organized by the International Olympic Committee. The games are held every four years in staggered summer and winter events consisten ...
and earned the highest snowboarding score in Youth Olympic Games history at the time. She was selected as Team USA's flag bearer for the Opening Ceremony of the 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games, becoming the first snowboarder chosen to serve as flag bearer for Team USA at either the Olympic Winter Games or Youth Olympic Games. Kim was nominated for the 2016
ESPYS An ESPY Award (short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award) is an accolade currently presented by the American broadcast television network ABC, and previously ESPN (as of the 2017 ESPY Awards the latter still airs them in the form ...
award for Best Breakthrough Athlete.


2018 Winter Olympics

At Kim's first Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, she won the gold medal in the Women's Halfpipe finals with Ricky Bower as her coach. Her first score was 93.75 points, which was 8.5 points ahead of second place. Her last score in the halfpipe was close to a perfect score at 98.25 points. She was nearly 10 points ahead of Liu Jiayu, who placed second. Kim became the youngest woman to ever land two 1080-degree spins in a row at the Olympics. At age 17, she became the youngest woman to ever win gold at the Olympics in the halfpipe, surpassing the past record holder,
Kelly Clark Kelly Clark (born July 26, 1983) is an American snowboarder who won halfpipe gold at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Clark was born in Newport, Rhode Island. She started snowboarding when she was 7 years old, began competing in 1999, and became a me ...
, who had won the gold when she was 19. This record landed Kim a position on ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' magazine's annual ''Time'' 100 list.


2022 Winter Olympics

Kim became a two-time Olympian when she competed at her second consecutive Winter Olympics in
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
, China. Kim entered the women's halfpipe event. She successfully defended her Olympic title, thus becoming the first female snowboarder to win back-to-back gold medals at the snowboard halfpipe event. After qualifying for the final in first place with a score of 87.75, achieved in her first run, Kim won the event with a score of 94.00, also achieved in her first run. She used her additional two runs in the final to attempt a new trick, but in both attempts was unable to stick the landing. As a result, her scores for the second and third runs were low (27.00 and 26.25 respectively) and thus discarded, with the score from her first run counted to secure the Olympic title.


In popular culture

Kim was featured on the cover of ''
Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...
'' following her Olympic gold medal win. Her appearance on a special edition of the
Kellogg's Corn Flakes Corn flakes, or cornflakes, are a breakfast cereal made from toasting flakes of corn (maize). The cereal, originally made with wheat, was created by Will Kellogg in 1894 for patients at the Battle Creek Sanitarium where he worked with his brothe ...
box set a new record for "fastest-selling cereal box in Kellogg Company history." In 2018,
Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...
began producing a Shero Barbie in her likeness in a new line of dolls highlighting inspiring women (that also includes
Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( , born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937; declared dead January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer and writer. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many oth ...
). In February 2019, Kim was featured in Nike's "Dream Crazier" ad with
Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American inactive professional tennis player. Considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for ...
,
Simone Biles Simone Arianne Biles (; born March 14, 1997) is an American artistic gymnast. Her seven Olympic medals tied with Shannon Miller for the most Olympic medals won by an American gymnast. Having won 25 World Championship medals, she is the most de ...
,
Ibtihaj Muhammad Ibtihaj Muhammad (born December 4, 1985) is an American sabre fencer and member of the United States fencing team. She is known for being the first Muslim American woman to wear a headscarf while competing for the United States in the Olympics ...
,
Megan Rapinoe Megan Anna Rapinoe (; born July 5, 1985) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a winger and captains OL Reign of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), as well as the United States national team. Winner of the Ballon d ...
, and other women athletes. The ad appeared during the 2019 Oscars. In late 2020, Kim competed on
season 4 Season 4 may refer to: * "Season 4" (''30 Rock'' episode), an episode of ''30 Rock'' See also * * Season One (disambiguation) Season One may refer to: Albums * ''Season One'' (Suburban Legends album), 2004 * ''Season One'' (All Sons & Daughte ...
of ''
The Masked Singer ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' as "Jellyfish". Kim ultimately made it to the semi-finals of the competition before being unmasked in a triple elimination alongside
Tori Kelly Victoria Loren Kelly (born December 14, 1992) is an American singer-songwriter, and voice actress. She first gained recognition after posting videos on YouTube as a teenager, and made it through to Hollywood week on the ninth season of ''Americ ...
as "Seahorse" and
Taylor Dayne Taylor Dayne (born Leslie Wunderman; March 7, 1962) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She rose to fame in 1987 after her debut single " Tell It to My Heart". Dayne achieved six additional U.S. top-10 singles, including "Love Will ...
as "Popcorn". In March 2022, she was added to the game
Fortnite ''Fortnite'' is an online video game developed by Epic Games and released in 2017. It is available in three distinct game mode versions that otherwise share the same general gameplay and game engine: ''Fortnite Battle Royale'', a free-to-p ...
as a playable character as part of the game's icon series.


Awards and honors

In July 2018, Kim won three
ESPYs An ESPY Award (short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award) is an accolade currently presented by the American broadcast television network ABC, and previously ESPN (as of the 2017 ESPY Awards the latter still airs them in the form ...
for Best Female Athlete, Best Female Olympian, and Best Female Action Sports Athlete. Kim was also included in ''Time'' magazine's ''100 Most Influential People of 2018.''


Personal life


Family

Kim is a second-generation
Korean-American Korean Americans are Americans of Korean ancestry (mostly from South Korea). In 2015, the Korean-American community constituted about 0.56% of the United States population, or about 1.82 million people, and was the fifth-largest Asian Americans ...
; her parents, Boran Yun Kim and Jong Jin Kim, emigrated from South Korea during the country's authoritarian era. Her father first arrived with just $800 in cash and worked minimum-wage jobs, eventually earning a college degree at the
El Camino College El Camino College (Elco or ECC) is a two-year public community college located in the unincorporated area of Los Angeles County known as Alondra Park. He eventually quit his job to help his daughter pursue her snowboarding career. Kim has
extended family An extended family is a family that extends beyond the nuclear family of parents and their children to include aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins or other relatives, all living nearby or in the same household. Particular forms include the stem ...
living in South Korea, where she competed in the
2018 Winter Olympics , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , winte ...
. Her relatives, including her grandmother, watched her compete for the first time at the Olympics. Kim stated, "I have this different opportunity because I'm Korean-American, but I'm riding for the States. ... I'm starting to understand that I can represent both countries." Kim was admitted to
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
in 2018, but deferred the offer of admission until 2019. She wants to study science.


Anti-Asian Racism

Kim stated that despite being born in the United States and having always represented the country professionally at international events, she experiences racist and hateful messages regularly, up to 30 a day, as far back as she was age 13. She stated that because she was Asian, people would often belittle her accomplishments, telling her to "stop taking medals away from the white American girls on the team", as well as to " go back to China". She has also spoken up about the rise of anti-Asian hate crime and violence in the country since the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, adding that she is constantly worried about her parents' safety. She added that she would always bring along a knife,
pepper spray Pepper spray, oleoresin capsicum spray, OC spray, capsaicin spray, or capsicum spray is a lachrymatory agent (a compound that irritates the eyes to cause a burning sensation, pain, and temporary blindness) used in policing, riot control, cr ...
, and
tasers A taser is an electroshock weapon used to incapacitate people, allowing them to be approached and handled in an unresisting and thus safe manner. It is sold by Axon, formerly TASER International. It fires two small barbed darts intended to ...
whenever she goes outdoors to do her errands as well as avoiding crowded places in general.


Filmography


Television


Film


Music videos


See also

*
List of Olympic medalists in snowboarding Snowboarding is an Olympic sport that has been contested at the Winter Olympic Games since the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Snowboarding was one of five new sports or disciplines added to the Winter Olympic programme between 1990 and ...
* List of Youth Olympic Games gold medalists who won Olympic gold medals


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Chloe 2000 births American female snowboarders American people of South Korean descent American sportspeople of Korean descent Snowboarders at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics Living people Medalists at the 2018 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in snowboarding Snowboarders at the 2018 Winter Olympics Snowboarders at the 2022 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from Long Beach, California Sportspeople from Torrance, California X Games athletes Laureus World Sports Awards winners Youth Olympic gold medalists for the United States 21st-century American women