18-year-old Korean American, Chloe Kim fractured her ankle, an injury she appeared to suffer in her first run at the event on Saturday but still went on to finish all three rounds of the contest on Sunday despite having a broken ankle after winning silver at the Burton US Open.
“I just never give up…Unfortunately, I found out I broke my ankle today so I will need to get surgery to get it fixed,” she said.
Kim’s drive and resistance were formed at a young age, Born in California, Kim’s parents are from South Korea. Kim’s father quit his job to drive her to the mountains and also to be able to travel with her when she competes. He started her on a snowboard at age four at the southern California resort of Mountain High; she started competing at age six.
She has sacrificed a lot in pursuit of her dreams but says “I missed out on a few proms, homecomings, might miss my graduation. I wouldn’t want it any other way…it’s worth it.”
Kim finished second to Maddie Mastro, who became the first woman to land a double crippler, a double backflip above the halfpipe in competition. The victory snapped Kim’s eight-contest winning streak. Kim, who won the gold medal at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics became the youngest woman to win an Olympic snowboarding medal when she won gold in the women’s snowboard halfpipe at 17 years old.
She is also a four-time X Games gold medalist and the first woman to win two gold medals in snowboarding at the Winter Youth Olympic Games. She is the current World, Olympic, Youth Olympic, and X Games champion in the halfpipe, and the first to win the title at all three major events.
No timescale has been given for her return but she will miss the US Grand Prix halfpipe competition on Saturday, 9 March.
Overcoming this setback and getting back in her game after Surgery is on top of the list for Kim who has sacrificed and worked hard to become a snowboarding champion “I feel like dreams are always a little tricky, But if you just push through the struggles and the hard times, it’ll be so worth it in the end because you will be able to get to your dreams.”
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