Chloe Kim posts video of injury before Winter Games (1:41)Chloe Kim says she took “the silliest fall” in training and dislocated her shoulder, just weeks before the Winter Games. (1:41)
American snowboarding star Chloe Kim said Thursday that she took “the silliest fall” in training and dislocated her shoulder, threatening her chance to win a third straight gold medal at next month’s Winter Olympics in Italy.
Kim posted video of the accident in Laax, Switzerland, earlier this week as she practiced for a key Olympic tune-up there next weekend. She tumbled to the snow and went skittering across the halfpipe.
Kim’s absence would deprive the Winter Games of one of its biggest names and one of its best storylines.
She is trying to become the first action-sports athlete to win three straight gold medals. Shaun White took three halfpipe golds, but they were spread out over five games.
Two years ago at the Winter X Games, Kim became the first woman to pull off a 1260-degree spin in competition. Before that, she was the first woman to land a double-cork 1080 – two flips and one spin – and the first to land back-to-back 1080s.
She was working on adding to that repertoire for the Milan Cortina Games and, if healthy, would be the heavy favorite to win again. This injury throws all that in question. The Olympic qualifying round in women’s halfpipe is Feb. 11.
The Laax Open is scheduled for next weekend, and even if Kim were to get a clean bill of health, there is a chance she would head into the Olympics without having competed in the final of a contest this season.
Kim qualified for the U.S. team by winning a contest last year and has kept a light schedule in ’25-26. She fell during warmups for the final in Copper Mountain, Colorado, last month and pulled out after hurting her shoulder then, as well. That injury was not believed serious.
Regarding her latest shoulder injury, she said: “It should be fine. I’m just hoping that it doesn’t take too long, but I’m going to be chilling for the next little while.”
Chloe Kim posts video of injury before Winter Games (1:41)Chloe Kim says she took “the silliest fall” in training and dislocated her shoulder, just weeks before the Winter Games. (1:41)
Chloe Kim says she took “the silliest fall” in training and dislocated her shoulder, just weeks before the Winter Games. (1:41)
Through it all, nobody has come close to beating her.