American Kim reaches for more snowboarding history at 2026 Games

LOS ANGELES, Jan 16 : Twice Olympic gold medallist Chloe Kim is already one of the greatest snowboarders in the history of the sport and will aim to add to that legacy in the mountains of Italy next month.

At the Milan Cortina Winter Games, the American has a chance to become the only snowboarder to earn a third consecutive gold medal in the women's halfpipe.

The 25-year-old has been a strong favorite to win the event, but a recent injury disrupted her preparation. Kim dislocated a shoulder during what she called "the silliest fall" on a training run in Switzerland.

While Kim said she was "good to go" for the Olympics, she will not be able to jump back on her board until just ahead of the February 11 start to the halfpipe competition in the Italian resort town of Livigno.

"I'm really disappointed that I can't snowboard until right before the Olympics, which is going to be hard," Kim said in a video posted to Instagram this week. "I haven't got nearly the amount of reps I would have liked, but that's OK."

The halfpipe features riders sliding across a 22-foot-tall, U-shaped ramp and performing acrobatic tricks in the air. Kim took halfpipe gold in PyeongChang in 2018 and at Beijing 2022.

She was the first woman named to the U.S. snowboarding team for the 2026 Games, landing a spot last spring after winning the 2025 World Championships and was ranked the number one female snowboarder in the world.   

"It's an amazing opportunity," Kim told Reuters shortly after she earned her Olympic slot. "I'm really excited, but I think in my mind and in my world, I also know that there's so much before that moment."

She said at the time that her biggest challenge going into the Olympics was staying healthy. "You still have to train and you still