Chloe Kim Wins Halfpipe Gold Medal In Winter Olympics
Feb 9, 2022, 8:14 PM | Updated: 8:52 pm
BEIJING (AP) – American Chloe Kim has won gold in the women’s halfpipe at the Beijing Olympics.
She turned in a strong opening run as she easily defended her Olympic halfpipe title.
The last rider to drop into the halfpipe, and the contest already over, the 21-year-old American still attempted to go big one last time.
She fell, quickly got back up and casually glided the rest of the way down the halfpipe Thursday as the Olympic champion. She greeted her fellow medalists at the bottom with an embrace.
The only real drama was for second place, with 32-year-old Queralt Castellet of Spain taking silver at her fifth appearance at the Olympic Games. Sena Tomita of Japan held off Cai Xuetong of China for bronze.
No one was matching Kim’s height or demanding array of tricks. Not after an opening performance that featured a variety of different spins and rotations, including a front and backside 1080 (three spins each). That flawless run even appeared to surprised her as she covered her mouth in excitement. She later told her coach it was the best one she’s done.
Relive the gold medal-winning run from @ChloeKim! #WinterOlympics pic.twitter.com/EP7RnV2qxf
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) February 10, 2022
The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics
Just a year after Japan’s summer Olympics, the Games are back for a winter show in Beijing, China. The unusually short gap between Games is due to the ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Strict precautions and enforced virus prevention protocol are in place to help keep athletes, coaches and personnel safe.
Beijing is the capital of China, with a population of more than 20 million people and the first city to host both a Summer and Winter Olympic games. It is one of the largest cities in the world and 15 hours ahead of Mountain Time. There are 13 different venues in and around Beijing that will be used for the Winter Olympics. A total of 109 events will be held in 15 different sports, and there will be a lot of Utah locals competing for medals. Keep up to date with them at our Olympic headquarters.
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