Chloe Kim showed up to the snowboard halfpipe final ready to defend her gold medal.
On Thursday morning in Beijing, she did just that. The American snowboarder became the first woman to win two halfpipe snowboarding gold medals in Olympic history after a brilliant first run in the final round.
Kim finished with a score of 94.00 in that run, four points higher than second place.
Kim, who posted the best score in the qualifying round on Tuesday, couldn't hold back her excitement as she waited her score. She was also a bit surprised with how well she performed.
“Oh my god! That was the worst practice of my life,” she said following her run.
At 17 years old, Kim became the youngest woman to win the gold medal for snowboarding at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics. Her first run score mirrored that of the 2022 Games; she scored 93.75 in 2018, before finishing with a 98.25 to win gold that year. And, now at 21, Kim won her second career gold medal.
In her second run, Kim didn't land after attempting a 1260 turn. She also fell on her third run, but it didn’t matter. No one reached her score of 94, and she’ll be heading home on top once again.
