Chloe Kim, 17, won gold in the women’s halfpipe event at the 2018 Winter Olympics on Monday, February 12, giving the U.S. its third gold medal in PyeongChang, South Korea.
The teen from Southern California, who was competing in her first Olympic games, is the first female snowboarder to complete back-to-back 1080s in competition and scored an incredible 98.25 to nab the gold. China’s Jiayu Liu took silver and fellow American Arielle Gold earned the bronze.
The first generation Korean-American seemed to take all the excitement in stride, tweeting about eating to calm the butterflies in her stomach.
Over the weekend she wrote about downing two churros — “they were pretty bomb so if you ever get nervous go eat a churro,” she tweeted.
Oh and I also had 2 churros today and they were pretty bomb so if you ever get nervous go eat a churro
— Chloe Kim (@chloekimsnow) February 11, 2018
On Monday, during her competition, she tweeted, “Could be down for some ice cream rn,” and followed it up with, “Wish I finished my breakfast sandwich but my stubborn self decided not to and now I’m getting hangry.”
Wish I finished my breakfast sandwich but my stubborn self decided not to and now I’m getting hangry
— Chloe Kim (@chloekimsnow) February 13, 2018
In an interview with Us Weekly before the games, Kim said that her favorite fast food is Chipotle and her go-to meal “is anything that I can pop in the oven.”
The Torrance, California, native was determined to enjoy her first Olympics and had suggestions for other hopefuls with Us.
“My biggest piece of advice would just be to have fun,” she said. “I mean, a lot of times it’s really hard, to get a little overwhelmed.”
The key she said is “keeping it fun and just remembering why you started and why you’re still in love with this sport. Just have fun, keep the smile on your face and you’ll be good.”
