Chloe Kim is one of the most renowned female snowboarders of all time. She killed it at the 2018 Winter Olympics at PyeongChang for Team USA and she is doing so once again in the 2022 games in Beijing. She won her second straight gold medal for the USA in the women’s snowboard halfpipe final at the Winter Olympics on Feb. 9.
Before she triumphed at the competition, she expressed how “excited” she was about what she had in store for the games. “I’m so excited,” she told TIME of the new tricks she has in store. “They’re an upgrade from everything I’ve done.” The snowboarder proved she had a sense of humor when discussing expectations ahead of the big games. “Don’t have too many expectations. Just let me vibe. I’m just trying to chill,” she joked before getting real and adding, “No, I’m just kidding. You just expect a lot out of me. I’m going to go off.”
Here’s everything you need to know about the champion snowboarder.
1. Chloe won gold at the 2022 Winter Olympics with impressive runs.
Chloe attempted to go for the 1260 on her second and third runs in the snowboard halfpipe and almost pulled off a trick that no other competitor would try. Although she tumbled on both tries, her first run’s score of 94.00 was enough to be the top score at the end of the event. She was declared the winner while Spain’s Queralt Castellet took the silver medal with a second-run score of 90.25. Japan’s Sena Tomita, who had a 88.25 score on the second run, earned bronze.
2. Chloe also won gold in the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Chloe became the youngest female snowboarder to win gold when she competed at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in 2018. She was just 17 years old, barely at qualifying age, when she dominated the Women’s Halfpipe competition. It shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise as she could’ve qualified for the Sochi games in 2014 with skill alone if she hadn’t been only 13 years old.
The prodigy has struggled with the pressure put on her because of her big win in 2018. “The minute I come home, I can’t even go to my goddamn favorite place,” she said in her TIME interview of returning from PyeongChang. “It makes you angry. I just wanted a day where I was left alone. And it’s impossible.” People can be cruel and Chloe learned that fast. “People just forget that you’re young,” she told the NY Times. “Like, they say that you’re young in the headlines, but they don’t treat you like a kid.”
3. Chloe is the highest-paid female snowboarder.
Chloe shot up to stardom after her big win in PyeongChang. The snowboarder was thrust into the life of being an influencer as she has appeared in adverts for Nike, Toyota, Monster Energy, Oakley– the list is endless. She even landed a coveted Super Bowl commercial in 2018. Her influence didn’t stop at marketing. She appeared on magazine covers, made a cameo in Maroon 5’s “Girls Like You” music video and even had a Barbie Doll inspired by her. It’s easy to see how she was so overwhelmed upon returning home from her first-ever Olympics. All of that has made her the highest-paid female snowboarder with a net worth ranging from $400k to $1 million.
4. Chloe went to an Ivy League college.
Chloe enrolled in Princeton University in 2019 just a year after getting back from PyeongChang. The Olympian pivoted bigtime from life in the spotlight to becoming an everyday college student– and that’s exactly what she wanted. “I just need some Chloe time,” she said in a personal YouTube video announcing the news. “I need to be human. I need to be a normal kid for once, because I haven’t been able to do that my whole life.” She started out her first semester studying Chemistry and then changed her major to anthropology. She ultimately left college in 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic forced schools to shut down on-campus classes.
5. Chloe was on ‘The Masked Singer.’
Chloe proved her ultimate celebrity status when she appeared on The Masked Singer toward the end of 2020. She was dressed up as the Jellyfish and proved she has many talents as she made it to the show’s final six. The judges were consistently wowed by her performances which has made her seriously consider pursuing a singing career.
“I would love to,” Chloe told HollywoodLife. “I mean, I know now that people like my voice, so I won’t be too shy to put something out. But obviously, with the Olympics and stuff coming up, we’ll see what that looks like. But I would love to do it. It’s been so much fun, and I would love to sing more.”