Daughter of Korean Immigrants to Snowboard For the U.S. in the 2018 Olympics
![Daughter of Korean Immigrants to Snowboard For the U.S. in the 2018 Olympics](https://nextshark.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/KIM-1.jpg?width=1536&auto_optimize=medium&quality=85&blur=80)
![Daughter of Korean Immigrants to Snowboard For the U.S. in the 2018 Olympics](https://nextshark.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/KIM-1.jpg?width=1536&auto_optimize=medium&quality=85)
![Carl Samson](https://nextshark.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/CARLSAMSON_NEXTSHARK.jpg?width=128&auto_optimize=medium&quality=85)
By Carl Samson
At 17, Chloe Kim has achieved so much in her beloved sport that she’s being referred to as the “Now of Women’s Snowboarding.”
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Born in Long Beach, California, Kim will hit the snow at the Pyeongchang Olympics in South Korea, her parents’ origin, in February. This will be her first Olympics.
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Kim has been dominating the women’s halfpipe snowboarding scene for a while.
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For one, she’s the youngest athlete in the history of X Games to win three gold medals before turning 16, according to her profile.
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She won her first medal, a silver, at the age of 13.
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While her cheerful personality suggests that she’s just another SoCal teen, Kim is actually a fierce snowboarder who’s been training hard for years.
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She first tried snowboarding at the age of four with her dad, Jong-jin Kim, who soon quit his job so he can drive her to training. Two years later, she was competing as a member of Team Mountain High.
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At 14, she was then too young for the Sochi Olympics in 2014, though she was mathematically qualified for the U.S. team, NBC noted.
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Kim currently attends an online program at Mammoth Mountain High School. She speaks English, Korean and French.
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Despite spending much of her time in icy mountains, Kim identifies as a city girl. At least 143,000 followers on Instagram ogle at her breathtaking moves on the snow and stops at the mall.
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Kim qualified for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Dec. 15.
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While she’s technically representing the U.S., she feels she can also compete for Korea owing to her heritage.
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“My parents are really excited about it, and it’s some crazy luck that my first Olympics are going to be in Korea where my parents are from. And a lot of my relatives over there have never really seen me compete before, so I think it’s going to be pretty cool for everyone. It’s really exciting, my whole family is really excited about it, so that gets me even more stoked!”
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She still feels jittery before competing, but finds a way to ease herself.
“I’m shaking, my heart is pounding out of my chest, it’s like I’m freaking out,” Kim said. “But once I’m moving, I feel fine and I feel relaxed.”
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