Chloe Kim has quickly become the face of professional snowboarding in the United States despite only being 22 years old. With Shaun White officially retired, there is not a more recognizable face in the sport than Kim right now. If things keep going the way, they are going, then she can easily be the most recognizable female athlete in the country very soon. Here is an in-depth look at how Chloe Kim rose to stardom at such a young age.
Chloe Kim made her professional snowboarding debut at the 2014 Winter X-Games at the age of 13. She ended up taking home the silver medal in the SuperPipe event that year. Kim became the youngest person to win a gold medal at the X-Games the following year. She followed up this impressive showing by winning the SuperPipe event again in 2016 to become the first-ever back-to-back gold medalist.
Kim would have to wait until 2018 before making her Olympic debut in Pyeongchang, South Korea. The young snowboarder was unfazed by competing in front of the whole world. She absolutely dominated the Halfpipe event to win a gold medal at the age of 17. This performance is what propelled Kim into superstar status around the United States. She appeared on the covers of “Time” magazine and “Sports Illustrated.” She even had a Barbie doll made in her likeness.
The media attention could have easily gotten to such a young athlete, but Kim did not let it distract her on the slopes. She added two gold medals at the 2019 and 2021 World Championships before returning to the Olympics in 2022. While her scores were a little lower than normal in Beijing, Kim still ended up winning her second Olympic gold medal. This win cemented her legacy among the all-time snowboarding greats.
While it will be a long time before we see Chloe Kim on the Olympic stage again, she is still finding ways to stay in the public eye. She has worked with several important charitable organizations and cultivated a successful media career proving she is just as talented off the slopes as on them.
