Chloe Kim put on a master class in her 2026 Winter Olympics debut, silencing concerns over a recent injury scare to lead the field in the women’s halfpipe qualifiers.
Despite entering the Milan Cortina Winter Games with a torn labrum sustained during a January training session in Switzerland, the two-time defending champion in women’s snowboarding posted a commanding score of 90.25 on her first run, securing the top seed for the final.
The 25-year-old phenom showed zero rust in the pipe, finding her amplitude early and stomping a clean run that put her nearly three points clear of Japan’s Sara Shimizu and 4.25 better than American teammate Maddie Mastro, who finished third in qualifying.
That 90.25 score effectively puts the field on notice. In halfpipe terms, a 2.75-point lead over the second-place qualifier is a massive gap, especially considering Kim did it on her first run.
However, before dropping into the pipe, Kim’s health was the primary storyline, not the medal hunt following her victory at the 2025 World Championships. Kim's shoulder injury left her unable to train for weeks, forcing her to rely on a shoulder brace and heavy taping just to ride. However, her technical precision remained unmatched.
Following the session, Kim addressed the narrative regarding her lack of recent contest reps. As Zak Keefer of The Athletic noted, Kim dismissed any talk of competitive cobwebs.
"Rust? No rust. I’m not rusty," Kim said. "I’ve been snowboarding for 22 years. … I might be better at snowboarding than I am at walking."
If Kim captures gold on Thursday, she will indeed become the first snowboarder in Olympic history, regardless of gender or discipline, to win three consecutive gold medals in the same event. That would top Shaun White’s three gold medals, which came at nonconsecutive Olympics.
So, she is getting prepared to finish that third straight gold hunt on Thursday in the women’s halfpipe final, scheduled for 1:30 p.m. ET. Stateside viewers can catch the live broadcast on NBC or stream the full session via Peacock.