Chloe Kim wins halfpipe world title and nails down spot on 2026 Olympic team
Chloe Kim of United States reacts in the finish area after winning her third snowboard halfpipe world championship on Saturday in St Moritz, Switzerland.
Photograph: Gian Ehrenzeller/AP
Chloe Kim won her third snowboard halfpipe world championship Saturday in St Moritz, Switzerland, and secured a spot on the 2026 US Olympic team.
Related: Alysa Liu left figure skating behind. She came back better than ever
Advertisement
Kim, 24, landed a switch double cork 1080 and back-to-back 900s in her first run to earn a score of 93.50, enough to clinch the title with one run remaining. Japan's Sara Shimizu took silver with 90.75, while Mitsuki Ono earned bronze with 88.50.
'I think I'm back,' Kim said. 'I really started to find the joy for the sport again, and that's been a really positive change for me.'
The victory guarantees Kim's place at the Milano Cortina Olympics next February, where she will attempt to become the first snowboarder to win three consecutive Olympic gold medals in halfpipe.
Kim's win caps a comeback season after a two-year break from competition. She stepped away following her second Olympic gold at the 2022 Beijing Games, citing mental health struggles and burnout. After returning to competition in January, she won the X Games in Aspen – tying Shaun White for most women's SuperPipe titles – and became the first woman to land both frontside and cab double cork 1080s in competition.
Advertisement
Saturday's final was delayed more than two hours due to poor weather. Kim acknowledged the conditions took a toll on the riders.
'Today was definitely a big mental battle, I think for all the ladies,' she said. 'I definitely had a couple mental breakdowns during practice, so I'm just really happy I was able to land something.'
Her second run served as a victory lap, during which she attempted a cab 1260 – another trick no woman has landed in competition – but fell on the landing.
'My favorite part about a victory lap is trying to progress the sport and try to do the craziest run I've ever done,' Kim said. 'I was hoping to put that down here, but next time.'
Advertisement
Kim first won the world championship in 2019 and repeated in 2021. She did not compete at the 2023 edition.
Related: One year to the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics: Twenty athletes from Team USA to watch
The win also solidified her status atop the World Snowboard Points List, the key criteria for early Olympic qualification. According to US Ski and Snowboard, the top-ranked American woman in the world standings after this event secures an automatic Olympic berth, provided she remains in the top three overall – a threshold Kim has met.
Kim won her first X Games gold at age 14 and a first Olympic gold at 17 in Pyeongchang. She remains one of the most dominant and decorated athletes in the sport.
Advertisement
'Chloe's ability to push the progression of women's halfpipe riding while staying consistent at the top is remarkable,' said US Snowboard head coach Danny Kass. 'She's not just winning – she's reinventing what's possible.'
Kim has credited her renewed success to changes she made off the snow. She began intensive therapy last summer, a move she says helped her regain her confidence and perspective.
'There was a time I couldn't imagine competing again,' Kim said earlier this season. 'Now, I'm having fun again. I've let go of what I think I'm supposed to do and just focus on what I love about snowboarding.'
The remainder of the US women's Olympic halfpipe team will be named in early 2026.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
'Farewell, Comrade Boll': China fans hail German table tennis ace
Timo Boll thanked his fans on Weibo, writing in Chinese and German (WANG Zhao) Chinese table tennis fans on Tuesday bid heartfelt farewell to the retiring Timo Boll, Germany's former world number one known fondly as "Uncle Boll" by millions in the Asian country. The 44-year-old played his last professional match on Sunday in Frankfurt as his domestic team lost the Bundesliga final in Frankfurt. Advertisement It made headlines in China and on the X-like Weibo platform a related hash tag had more than four million views as of noon Tuesday. Writing in Chinese and German on Weibo, four-time Olympic medallist Boll thanked fans for their "thunderous support". "Thank you to the Chinese fans for your deep affection that crossed national borders," he wrote to his nearly 800,000 followers. "From Ma Lin to Fan Zhendong, every clash with a great opponent has been one of my most cherished honours," Boll added, referring to two Chinese table tennis giants and Olympic champions. Table tennis is widely considered China's national sport and is played recreationally across the country. Advertisement China has dominated the sport at the Olympics since it was introduced as a medal event in 1988, winning 37 of the 42 gold medals. They won all five titles at the Paris Games last summer. Boll never quite reached those heights during a career spanning three decades, but retires with two Olympic silvers and two bronzes, all in team competition. He was widely admired by table tennis fans in China as one of the few non-Chinese players who challenged the country's dominance, especially in the 2000s and 2010s. Following his final event in the country a year ago, Boll called China his second home. "You can see I still have some tears in my eyes," Boll, who won 20 European titles in singles, doubles and team events, said at the time. Advertisement Boll said in a 2019 interview that he had learnt "a little bit" of Chinese and had "many Chinese friends". Chinese fans expressed strong emotions this week as Boll bowed out. "Farewell, Comrade Boll. We wave goodbye with both smiles and tears," said one Weibo user. "Uncle Boll's table tennis career has been long and brilliant," said another, adding "he influenced an entire generation". State news agency Xinhua described Boll as having a "storied career at the sport's highest level". isk/je/pst
Hamilton Spectator
2 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Angels rookie Christian Moore, a NYC native, gets 1st MLB hit in 1st visit to Yankee Stadium
NEW YORK (AP) — Christian Moore's first visit to Yankee Stadium came as the Los Angeles Angels' second baseman, even though he grew up a fan of the pinstripes just 20 miles from the ballpark. 'My dad's a huge Met fan,' he explained. 'We argued about it all the time when I was a kid. My brother and I were both Yankees fans growing up so we definitely had a lot of smack talk going on in the house, but it was all friendly. It was all good.' Three days after his major league debut , Moore tripled past right fielder Aaron Judge for his first big league hit, then threw out Paul Goldschmidt at the plate in the 11th inning to help the Angels beat the Yankees 1-0 on Monday night. Moore grew up in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn, near the Queens border. The 22-year-old had a group of about 40 family members and friends at the game Monday, including dad Charles, mom Lazette, sisters Tysheena and Cynnamon, and brother CJ. Christian was a two-way player at Suffield Academy in Suffield, Connecticut, and played three seasons at the University of Tennessee, helping the Vols win their first College World Series title with a leadoff homer in the decisive third game of the championship series against Texas A&M. He was selected eighth overall in last July's amateur draft and signed for a $4,997,500 bonus. He started at Class-A Inland Empire and after two games was moved up to Double-A Rocket City last Aug. 2. Moore hit .234 in 34 games with the Trash Pandas this year, was promoted to to Triple-A Salt Lake on May 20, then batted .350 with four homers, 18 RBIs and a .999 OPS in 20 games. Last Thursday, he woke up after hitting a two-run homer and an RBI single during an 8-7 loss at Las Vegas and saw a couple of missed calls from Bees manager Keith Johnson. 'I said, `Hey, man. Sorry. I was sleeping,'' Moore recalled. 'He said: `Don't sleep through calls in Baltimore.' And I was like, `Oh, what? What do you mean Baltimore?' And he was like: `You're going to the show.'' Moore flew from Las Vegas to Baltimore. His parents drove there from New York and he debuted Friday night, going 0 for 3 in a 2-0 loss. He said he attended 15-20 Mets games growing up, but Yankee Stadium was a new experience. Batting ninth, he flied out in the third and sixth. Then with two outs in the eighth, he sliced an opposite-field liner to right. Judge tried for a sprawling backhand catch, but the ball landed in front of the two-time AL MVP and rolled to the wall. Moore slid headfirst into third. 'His at-bat was much, much better tonight,' Angels manager Ron Washington said. 'And I think from this day forward they'll get better because of the fact he got his first base hit out the way.' Moore hit an inning-ending flyout in the 10th, then scored in the 11th as the automatic runner when Nolan Schanuel doubled off Jonathan Loáisiga. New York had runners at the corners in the bottom half and the infield was in when Jasson Domínguez hit a broken-bat, one-hopper to Moore, who charged in a bit and made a perfect sidearm throw to Travis d'Arnaud. The catcher nabbed the ball just to the third-base side of the plate in time to tag a sliding Goldschmidt on the left foot. Moore had the ball from the triple in his locker and planned to give it to his parents. He hadn't worried about how long it would take to reach the big leagues. 'I just try to put in the work and trust the process,' he said. ___ AP MLB:
Fox Sports
2 hours ago
- Fox Sports
Bangladesh bats first in Galle as Sri Lanka's Mathews plays his final test
Associated Press GALLE, Sri Lanka (AP) — Bangladesh won the toss Tuesday and opted to bat in the first cricket test against Sri Lanka, expecting spin to play a major part as the game progresses. The tourists had to leave out Mehidy Hasan Miraz because of a fever. Sri Lanka gave debuts to spinner Tharindu Ratnayake and top-order batter Lahiru Udara in what will be Angelo Mathews' 119th and last test match for his country. He is set to retire as Sri Lanka's third-highest scorer in test cricket. The match at Galle is the first in the 2025-2027 cycle of the World Test Championship, starting just days after South Africa won the title for the first time with a victory over defending champion Australia at Lord's on the weekend. Lineups: Bangladesh: Shadman Islam, Anamul Haque Bijoy, Mominul Haque, Najmul Hossain Shanto (captain), Mushfiqur Rahim, Litton Das, Jaker Ali, Taijul Islam, Nayeem Hasan, Hasan Mahmud and Nahid Rana. Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Lahiru Udara, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva (captain), Kusal Mendis, Milan Ratnayake, Tharindu Ratnayake, Prabath Jayasuriya and Asitha Fernando. Umpires: Alex Wharf, England, and Rod Tucker, Australia. Third Umpire: Allahuddien Paleker, South Africa. Match Referee: Andy Pycroft, Zimbabwe. ___ AP cricket: recommended in this topic
