Page 18 - ARUBA TODAY

A18 SPORTS
Wednesday 14 February 2018

Victory lap: Chloe Kim takes

her family on a gold-medal ride

By EDDIE PELLS torsport" on her iPod, said games," she said. "You
AP National Writer "This one's for you, Grams" wait for four years to come
PYEONGCHANG, South — a shout-out to her South here and it's definitely a
Korea (AP) — Chloe Kim Korean grandmother, who lot of hype around a 1
stamped her name on a was watching her in per- 1/2, 2-hour time period. It's
new era of snowboarding son for the first time — and pretty nerve-wracking. You
with a run down the half- dropped into the halfpipe know you're at the Olym-
pipe that, officially, did not to make history. pics. It's been a dream of
mean anything. To her, it On the last run of Tuesday's mine since I was a little girl,
meant everything. sun-splashed final, Kim hit to land a run that's very im-
The Olympic gold medal back-to-back 1080-degree portant for me."
Chloe Kim, of the United States, jumps during the women's half- was already hers but she spins on her second and She didn't have to do it.
pipe finals at Phoenix Snow Park at the 2018 Winter Olympics in knew she could do bet- third jumps — repeating In the first of the day's three
Pyeongchang, South Korea, Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2018. ter. So she cinched on her a combination no other runs, she flew higher than
Associated Press gloves, cranked up "Mo- woman has ever done in a anyone on her opening
competition. straight air, then landed
She landed them squarely, one 1080, and closed with
sent her already super- a pair of inverted spins,
hyped family at the bot- each with well-timed, easy-
tom into overdrive, scored to-see grabs of the board
a 98.5 and sent out the that the judges appreci-
message that everyone ate. Her score there was a
from grandma to those at 93.75, which put her nearly
the roots of this sport love nine points clear of the oth-
to hear: "I knew I wasn't go- er 11 riders, none of whom
ing to be completely satis- would crack 90.
fied taking home the gold, The rest of the day was a
but knowing that I could've contest for second, and
done better." China's Liu Jiayu won it. She
The 17-year-old from Cali- said injuries made her re-
fornia made it look easy, boot and reconnect with
but only afterward did she her love of the sport, re-
concede how difficult the gardless of the result. It will
past several months have be interesting to see how
been. the 25-year-old's attitude
Her story has been told shifts four years hence, at
and sold and marketed for the Winter Olympics in Bei-
gold: Her parents both emi- jing. “The doctors (say) that
grated to the United States the more that it happens,
from South Korea, and the less impactful it is,”
though it was more coin- Gold said.
cidence than any grand That bronze-medal run
plan, Kim making her Olym- pushed Kelly Clark — she
pic debut in the country of the one gold and two
where her family was from Olympic bronzes — into
set up a sure path to star- fourth. This was Clark’s fifth
dom in the halfpipe and Olympics, and the 34-year-
beyond. old left the halfpipe with
She has commanded the her own future to consider,
progression in women's but knowing the future of
snowboarding for at least the sport she helped bring
two years now, and it was to the masses is in very
hard to imagine anyone good hands.
beating her on the sport's “Chloe’s an outstanding
biggest stage, at her of- snowboarder, but I’m more
ficial coming-out party. proud of her for how she’s
But halfpipes are hard, the handled herself as a per-
snow is slippery and noth- son,” Clark said.
ing is for sure. “And today, I really did it for
"There is a lot of pressure my family and everything
revolving around these they’ve done for me.”q