43betterbetter better and you’re going to realize that you have so m and you’re going to realize that you have so mandyou’regoingtoreali havesomuchuch good uch good good
happening in your life, that the bad isn’t going to hurt you. happening in your life, that the bad isn’t going to hurt you. happeninginyourlife,thatth goingtohurtyou.
It’s just annoying. It’s like an annoying mIt’s just annoying. It’s like an annoying mIt ’sjustannoying.It ’slikeanan osquito in the back-osquito in the back-squitointheback-
ground, just flying around.”
WhatWWhat hasn’t changed for Kimhat hasn’t changed for Kimhasn’tchangedforK is her dom is her domdominanceinance on the inance on the onthe
halfpipe.halfpipe. In PyeongChang, Kimhalfpipe. In PyeongChang, KimInPyeongChang,Ki becam became the first wome the first womhefirstwomanan to an to to
landland back-to-back 1080s—back-to-back1080s—thrthree full rotations in the air—onsintheair—atat
anan Olyman OlymOlympics,pics, and a few mpics, and a few mandafewmonthsonths later she was the first womonths later she was the first womsthefirstwomanan an
to land a front-side double cork 1080—to land a front-side double cork 1080—tolandafront-sidedoublecor essentially flipping essentially flipping entiallyflipping
herselfherself upside down twice during an aerial rotation—herself upside down twice during an aerial rotation—upsidedowntwicedur lrotation—inin a in a a
halfpipe.halfpipe. “She’s pushing the boundaries of what’s possible halfpipe. “She’s pushing the boundaries of what’s possible “She’spushingthebou what’spossible
forfor womfor womwomen’sen’s snowboarding,” says Arielle Gold, the recently en’s snowboarding,” says Arielle Gold, the recently snowboarding,”says d,therecently
retiredretired U.S. snowboarder who won bronze in 2018. “She’s retired U.S. snowboarder who won bronze in 2018. “She’s U. S.snowboarderwhowo 2018.“She’s
doingdoing tricks that somdoing tricks that somtricksthatsomee of the me of the mofthemenen don’t even want to. It’s en don’t even want to. It’s wantto.It ’s
pretty crazy. She is the greatest wompretty crazy. She is the greatest womprettycrazy.Sheisthegreatestwomen’s snowboarder of all en’s snowboarder of all rderofall
time, by far.”
AtAt the Beijing OlymtheBeijingOlympics,pics, which start Feb. 4, Kimwhichstar is the isthe
overwhelmingoverwhelming favorite to win gold. NBC will feature her favoritetowingold.NB her
inin primin primprime-timee-time-time coverage, and blue-chip come coverage, and blue-chip comcoverage,andblue-chipc panies—panies—Nike, Nike, ke,
ToyotaToyota and Procter & Gam andProcter&Gambleble are amareamongong the sponsors that th
makemake KimKim the highest-paid femthehighest-paidfemaleale snowboarder in history—snowboarder
havehave built ad cambuiltadcampaignspaigns around her. Few roles carry maroundher.Fewrolesc ore
pressurepressure than being an OlymthanbeinganOlympicpic front runner—frontrunner—fallfall short, and sh
youyou have to wait four years for a shot at redemhavetowaitfouryearsforashotatredemption.ption. But if B
KimKim thrived in PyeongChang in part because she hadn’t ex-thrivedinPyeongChanginpartbecauseshehadn’tex
perienced the full wattage of global superstardom, she’s ready
for Beijing because she’s now faced it head-on. By freeing her-
self of the happy-go-lucky facade, embracing the scars and
struggles of the past four years and living her authentic self
off the halfpipe, the real Chloe Kim is ready for her moment.
Kim is an unliKely addition to snow-
boarding’s Mount Rushmore. Her family didn’t
grow up riding; her dad Jong Jin took up snow-
boarding as a hobby and took Chloe along. As she
improved, Jong Jin would wake her up around
1 a.m. on Saturdays for the more than five-hour
drive north from Orange County to Mammoth
Mountain so Chloe could practice. Jong Jin, who
years later quit his job as a manufacturing en-
gineer to support Chloe’s career, scooped her
up out of bed, carried her to the car and buck-
led three seat belts on her in the back seat of his
Honda Pilot. “I was just like a mummy, strapped
down,” says Chloe. “Then I would wake up and
I’d be in Mammoth.”
Those long drives paid off. She started work-
ing with the U.S. national team at 13. Kim was
usually the only Asian American on the moun-
tain, which at times felt isolating. When she was
a national- team rookie, she attended a team din-
ner at another athlete’s house. Everyone put their
dishes in the dishwasher; but Kim had never
used a dishwasher before, so she stood nervous
and frozen, not knowing what to do. “Wand frozen, not knowing what to do. “Wand frozen, not knowing what to do. “Wand frozen, not knowing what to do. “Wand frozen, not knowing what to do. “Wndfrozen,notknowingwhattodo.“ Wee did ev-e did ev-e did ev-e did ev-e did ev-didev
erything by hand in merything by hand in merything by hand in merything by hand in merything by hand in merything by hand in mbyhandinmyy Korean household,” Kimy Korean household,” Kimy Korean household,” Kimy Korean household,” Kimy Korean household,” Kimy Korean household,” KimKoreanhousehl
says. “I waited for everyone to go somsays. “I waited for everyone to go somewhere else. ewhere else.
And then I just scrubbed mAnd then I just scrubbed my dishes by hand and y dishes by hand and
frantically searched for where to put themfrantically searched for where to put them back. back.
ItIt was emIt was emIt was emwa barrassing. Those mbarrassing. Those mbarrassing. Those momomoments are kind ents are kind ents are kind kind
of like, ‘Oh, I comof like, ‘Oh, I comof like, ‘Oh, I comof like, ‘Oh, I comof like, ‘Oh, I comof like, ‘Oh, I comof like, ‘Oh, I comoflike,‘Oh,Icomee frome frome frome frome frome frome fromfrom a very different place.’” a very different place.’” a very different place.’” a very different place.’” a very different place.’” a very different place.’” a very different place.’”averydifferentplace.’”