Chloe Kim needed one more perfect run to lock in snowboarding immortality. Instead, she crashed twice, and saw her shot at a historic three-peat go up in smoke.
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The American icon wiped out on each of her final two runs in the women's halfpipe final Thursday in Milan, opening the door for 17-year-old Choi Ga-On of South Korea to steal the gold and snatch Kim's shot at history.
Kim, 25, came in hunting her third straight Olympic halfpipe title, something no woman has ever done. But after throwing down a clean 88.00 on her opening run — featuring a nasty switch double cork 1080 — she couldn't land clean on either of her next two. And in a cold-blooded twist, Ga-On dropped a 90.25 on her final attempt to leap into the top spot.
Kim, riding with a lingering shoulder injury and Myles Garrett watching from the stands, was still gutsy enough to lead qualifiers and take the early final-round edge. But the door was left cracked open, and Ga-On kicked it off the hinges.
Shaun White may have won three Olympic halfpipe golds, but even he never pulled off three straight. Kim was one run away from topping him — until the landing didn't cooperate.
The crash was brutal. The heartbreak was real.
"I'm just going to do what I came here to do," Kim said earlier in the week. "If they decide to give it to me, then awesome. But I'm just grateful to be riding and confident."
Kim has already said she'll need shoulder surgery after these Games. But the silver still adds to her already legendary resume, and there's no shame in falling short chasing greatness.
Just don't be surprised if she comes back for one more run in 2030.
