Chloe Kim: 5 Things To Know About Snowboarder Going For Gold At Beijing Olympics

Chloe Kim is one of the best female snowboarders of all time. Here’s everything you need to know about the Olympic gold medalist.

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 aspires to do just the same in the 2022 games in Beijing. “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.”

Chloe will be competing in the Women’s Halfpipe competition. Chloe can be seen killing it on NBC and the streaming platform Peacock in the qualifying round on Tuesday, Feb. 8 at 8:30 pm ET and she’ll undeniably be back for the Women’s Halfpipe final on Wednesday, Feb. 9 at 8:30 pm ET. Here’s everything you need to know about the champion snowboarder.

1. Chloe 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.”

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.”

5. Chloe started snowboarding at a very young age

Considering she won a gold medal at 17 years old, it’s clear the snowboarder got started at a very young age. When she was just 4 years old, her dad took up snowboarding as a hobby and brought her along. Once he realized her potential, he would wake her up at 1 AM and shuttle her five hours to Mammoth Mountain, laying her in the back to let her sleep. “I was just like a mummy, strapped down,” she told TIME. “Then I would wake up and I’d be in Mammoth.” It paid off as she broke records for being the first child to win three gold medals at the X Games before turning 16.