Winter Olympics: Chloe Kim goes for gold in ladies’s snowboard halfpipe – reside | Winter Olympics 2026
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Key occasions
Cai Xuetong landed her first two runs. She opens with a 1080 and is placing collectively one thing particular till her fifth touchdown, which she will be able to’t stick. No enchancment, and the individuals within the podium locations can breathe a bit simpler. That will’ve put her in competition.
Choi knocks Kim out of first
It’s snowing onerous once more, and Choi Gaon is within the pipe, which is spectacular in its personal proper after her devastating crash within the first run. She masses up with three 900s, and all the things is clear.
As much as the judges … who’re taking some instances …
90.25! She’s forward of her mentor Chloe Kim!
Hosking walks away, which is a aid to see. Right here goes Castellet …
Her first trick appears shaky. However her fourth is an excellent 900, and he or she does one other on her fifth! She lands it … however no! She will’t keep upright via the end. Possibly a podium would’ve been robust to achieve, however prime 5 appeared seemingly. The veteran bows out with a 33.50, one of the best rating of those that crashed on all of their runs to date.
Can Canada’s Elizabeth Hosking make it via her spectacular set of tips with out slipping on the finish? She may contend for the rostrum if she does.
Sadly, no. She hits the lip of the wall and falls onerous on her again. She’s transferring round and in a position to unclip from her board, however she’s in ache and can get medical consideration.
Sena Tomita tries the identical tips as she did in her second run, which was solely good for seventh. She’ll keep there after hitting the lip of the pipe and sliding down.
Bea Kim goes huge along with her first three tips however slips. She received’t enhance from sixth, however she’s given an excellent account of herself right here at age 19.
Mitsuki Ono is in second and will legitimately problem Chloe Kim. The snow is falling once more.
And Ono falls in the identical place the place she fell within the second run, about midway down. She’ll keep the place she is.
Wu Shaotong runs practically the identical routine as her second run however adjustments one grip and is easy sufficient to enhance to 78.00, transferring into fifth forward of Bea Kim.
Standings after second run
Everybody will get yet one more probability to enhance …
88.00 C. Kim (USA)
85.00 Ono (Japan)
81.75 Kudo (Japan) – improved from 77.50
80.75 Cai (China) – improved from 73.00
77.00 B. Kim (USA) – improved from 7.25
70.25 Wu (China) – improved from 67.75
68.25 Tomita (Japan) – improved from 23.50
Hosking (Canada) has come near finishing a robust routine however hasn’t performed so.
What else can Chloe Kim do? Possibly launch herself into orbit?
The primary three tips are the identical as in her first run – 720, swap with huge amplitude, double cork 1080 once more, and he or she tries back-to-back double corks!
However no, she will be able to’t land that one. If she finishes that off within the final run, judges will run out of numbers.
Sara Shimuzu additionally worn out in her first run. The 16-year-old lands the 1080 double cork this time however solely simply, and he or she loses a lot momentum that she will be able to’t get via her third trick. No enchancment.
Right here comes Chloe once more …
The excellent news for Maddie Mastro is that the snow stopped some time in the past and is now not an element. Will she as soon as once more try an otherworldly trick to start out?
She goes via her visualization once more. I would like this lady to be my life coach.
Frontside double crippler once more … and he or she crashes once more.
At this level, although, she in all probability can’t dial it again for her third run. She’ll must strive it once more.
Rise Kudo is the rider who was simply bumped out of third place. How will she reply?
(Facet be aware: The Japanese decide gave her a 77 on her first run, decrease than a number of different judges!)
This appears good early. She appears to lose a little bit of velocity partway via, however she finishes with a 1080.
Is that sufficient to get again on the rostrum? Sure it’s! 81.75, some extent forward of Cai.
Cai Xuetong had a stable 73.00 in her first run and managed to sneak in a sixth trick, which is uncommon. She begins with a frontside 1080 and has a stable run, however her landings don’t look as easy as Chloe Kim’s. She as soon as once more sneaks in a sixth trick.
She’ll enhance right into a podium place, absolutely.
And she or he does. 80.75, third behind Kim and Ono.
SURPRISE! Choi Gaon was listed on the outcomes web page as “DNS,” however she dashed to the beginning line and began her second run!
However she crashes early. Nothing that might trigger an damage concern this time – only a slide on her bottom.
Shaun White is chatting with Snoop Dogg, as a result of why not?
Queralt Castellet Ibanez has 4 X Video games medals, one gold. She has a stable run going however has to place a hand right down to keep away from a tumble, and that throws off her routine. She improves to 24.00.
Choi Gaon has withdrawn after her horrific crash within the first run. She received the X Video games in 2023 at age 14. Actual disgrace to not see her proceed right here.
Elizabeth Hosking works onerous to psych herself up. She does so much off-axis reasonably than rotating so much till her fifth trick, the place she rotates so much for a 900 … and falls once more. She kilos the snow in frustration.
She doesn’t enhance from her 27.50. This wasn’t going to be a podium run, anyway, however she’d absolutely reasonably land this routine than not land it.
Sena Tomita is the 2002 X Video games champion along with her Olympic bronze that 12 months. She took day without work after that.
She makes an attempt the identical run as her first one, together with a 1080 on the finish, however stays upright this time. Her scores, not like Bea Kim’s, are very constant – all 68s or 69s. 68.25
Bea Kim fell on her first trick in her first run.
This time, she lands the 900, then a 720. She leaps greater than 10 ft on her third trick and finishes with a 720.
Ooooh, perhaps I spoke too quickly about controversies. That’s a 77.00, fourth place, 0.5 behind Japan’s Rise Kudo. The Japanese decide gave her a 74, although that rating is dropped. The opposite marks vary from 75 to 80.
Most likely splitting hairs at this degree, although. Each excellent runs.
Mitsuki Ono, second after the primary run, tries a 900 as an alternative of a 540 early in her run, however she crashes after her third trick and won’t enhance her rating.
Run 2 can have the identical begin order as Run 1.
Wu Shaotong runs virtually the identical routine as her first however adjustments her fourth trick from a 540 to 900. Her rating bumps up accordingly.
70.25
Standings after first run
Reminder: Solely one of the best run of the three will depend.
88.00 Kim (USA)
85.00 Ono (Japan)
77.50 Kudo (Japan)
73.00 Cai (China)
67.75 Wu (China)
Nobody else accomplished a run with out a fall, so these scores actually aren’t price gathering right here.
Chloe Kim is simply superior.
There’s no different solution to describe that.
OK, we’ll strive – bottom 720, swap bottom air, swap double cork 1080 …
A mere mortal, upon touchdown that trick, would take it straightforward the remainder of the best way. She didn’t.
Good luck beating that.
88.00
Sara Shimuzu (Japan) is one other 16-year-old and the 2025 world championship silver medalist. What had been you doing at age 16?
Her first trick could be very swish. Her second is an try at a double cork 1080 (two somersaults, three rotations), however she will be able to’t stick that touchdown, as her board hits parallel to the lip of the halfpipe.
10.50
Look who’s subsequent …
Maddie Mastro (USA) does a little bit of visualization of her run earlier than dropping in. It’s very Zen. She has two world championship podiums however was thirteenth and twelfth in her two Olympic runs.
She goes huge on her first trick with two flips, however she will be able to’t stick the touchdown.
5.50
Rise Kudo (Japan) is simply 16 however completed fourth in final 12 months’s world championship and is second within the World Cup. She throws down a stable run that ends with a bang – a full 1080.
That’s a 77.50.
Subsequent up: the USA’s Maddie Mastro, recognized for throwing in probably the most tough tips in ladies’s halfpipe competitors.
Cai Xuetong is in her fifth Olympics and completed fourth at house in 2022. She’s a three-time world champion, and he or she appears prefer it. Her greatest rotation is a 900, however the number of her tips is enjoyable to observe, and it’s clear.
73.00
And Snoop is right here. So is Myles Garrett, the NFL star who occurs to be courting one Chloe Kim.
Choi’s rating is 10.00, however that’s hardly the primary concern proper now.
Solely two of the seven riders to drop into the halfpipe to date have made it via with out falling – Mitsuki Ono (85.00) and Wu Shaotong (67.75).
Choi manages to rise up and slide slowly down the center of the pipe. Good to see, however you’d must suppose her participation in the remainder of that is doubtful.
South Korea’s Goan Choi is Chloe Kim’s pal/rival. Simply 17, she’s the World Cup chief.
Her first two tips are superb, however then she suffers a tough fall. She catches her board on the lip of the pipe after which tumbles headfirst again right down to the bottom of the pipe. She’s down and getting medical consideration.
Spain’s Queralt Castellet Ibanez is 36. Sure, 36. She took silver in 2022, enhancing little by little over 5 prior Olympics (twenty sixth, twelfth, eleventh, seventh, 2nd) and has two world championship podiums.
She falls early. It’s a must to marvel if this snow goes to make it tough. A crew passes via the pipe to filter the recent layer of precipitation.
4.75
Canada’s Elizabeth Hosking was sixth in Beijing and took silver within the 2023 world championships. She made her Olympic debut at age 16 in 2018.
And … whoa. Each trick has excessive amplitude, she’s doing off-axis strikes, and … oh, she falls on the finish. That was shaping as much as be one thing particular. If she lands that very same routine on one in all her subsequent two runs, be careful.
27.50
Japan’s Sena Tomita is the defending bronze medalist. She additionally runs into issue and won’t be counting this run.
23.50
Bea Kim is simply 19 and has deferred admission to Columbia College to do that.
She falls after her first trick. She will get again up and does easy non-twisting tips the remainder of the best way.
7.25, which she clearly received’t need to depend.
Oh my. Japan’s Mitsuki Ono simply put in a run that may put her on the rostrum already. A 900, a lesser trick to get well, then a blinding 1080 – it’s much more demanding than Wu’s run, and he or she lands all the things.
85.00
China’s Wu Shaotong is up first, and he or she could have a slight benefit as a result of it’s snowing, which could decelerate a number of the opponents after her.
She’s easy and will get first rate amplitude, however her tips aren’t as difficult as a number of the others on this subject. Nonetheless an accomplishment to get to this ultimate after being twenty second in Beijing.
67.75
Begin order for run 1
1. Wu Shaotong (China)
2. Mitsuki Ono (Japan)
3. Bea Kim (USA)
4. Sena Tomita (Japan)
5. Elizabeth Hosking (Canada)
6. Queralt Castellet Ibanez (Spain)
7. Choi Goan (South Korea)
8. Cai Xuetong (China)
9. Rise Kudo (Japan)
10. Maddie Mastro (USA)
11. Sara Shimizu (Japan)
12. Chloe Kim (USA)
It could appear that bordering the Pacific Ocean is a plus on this occasion.
We’re off …
In the meantime, in curling, three of the 4 video games in progress had a clean within the first finish. I sense a guidelines change arising in a 12 months or two, perhaps taking hammer (final shot) away from the workforce that had it when a clean was posted.
The format
Every athlete will get three runs. Solely one of the best of the three counts, giving them a margin of error that have to be the envy of each determine skater and gymnast.
Judges are in search of amplitude (top), tough tips and easy execution.
When you’re undecided what a double cork is, test this explainer from just a few years in the past.
Judged sports activities
Exceptions are absolutely on the market someplace, however it’s fascinating that snowboarding and freestyle snowboarding occasions merely don’t appeal to the identical degree of controversy that determine skating and gymnastics get, isn’t?
Lots of people within the USA have questions on yesterday’s ice dance, to place it mildly. Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron received gold – at the very least, in keeping with 4 of the 9 judges, and their margins of victory had been sufficient to outcount the 5 judges who most popular Madison Chock and Evan Bates.
The controversy is fueled by some off-ice points, as Sean Ingle explains:
Gold went to the controversial French couple, Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron, with 225.82 factors, after their routine earned them a top-scoring 135.64pts. Not everybody within the enviornment was satisfied that such a excessive rating was justified.
The pair, who teamed up final 12 months when Fournier Beaudry modified her citizenship from Canada to France, have confronted deeper scrutiny. A part of that’s right down to allegations made by Cizeron’s former associate, Gabriella Papadakis, and the suspension of Fournier Beaudry’s former associate, Nikolaj Sørensen.
In January, Papadakis’s memoir, In order To not Disappear, known as Cizeron “controlling” and “demanding”, allegations he has described as defamatory. When requested final week concerning the ebook, Cizeron mentioned: “I’ve mentioned all the things that I wanted to say on that topic.”
In 2024 Sørensen was suspended for six years by Canada’s Workplace of the Sport Integrity Commissioner for sexual maltreatment. The suspension has been overturned by the Sport Dispute Decision Centre of Canada on jurisdictional grounds.
Off the highest of my head, I can consider a number of related controversies in determine skating (even one which centered on a French decide, as is the case with the ice dancing right here), however I can’t consider any in what we used to name “excessive” sports activities. What am I forgetting? Or is there some purpose – lack of a fraught historical past, ethos of post-Gen X athletes, and so on. – that accounts for the shortage of nasty debates in these sports activities?
Coming into these Olympics, there have been a handful of standout athletes all of us knew we would have liked to observe …
Ilia Malinin hasn’t been at his finest however nonetheless clinched the gold medal for the USA in workforce determine skating and has a considerable lead within the males’s occasion.
Mikaela Shiffrin had a puzzling first race right here.
Jordan Stolz has the primary gold in a possible hat trick.
Jessie Diggins took bronze in the present day in a gutsy efficiency that left her moaning and holding her bruised ribs in agony after she crossed the end line.
And now, it’s Chloe Kim, who isn’t exhibiting any aftereffects from a current torn labrum. She regarded spectacular in qualifying, and who is aware of what she’ll have deliberate in the present day.
As in all Olympic halfpipe competitions, she’s actually not the one snowboarder to observe. This one goes to be enjoyable. Motion begins in about 52 minutes.
Preamble
Beau can be right here shortly. Within the meantime, right here’s how Chloe Kim received her final Olympic title, in 2022:
American snowboarder Chloe Kim has develop into the primary lady to efficiently defend the Olympic halfpipe title, hovering to an untouchable lead with a big opening run and cruising to a historic repeat gold.
Kim, dropping in final among the many 12 opponents to qualify for Thursday morning’s ultimate, set the bar with an enormous first run which included two 1080s and three spins down the course generally known as the Secret Backyard Olympic Halfpipe, overlaying her mouth and dropping to her knees in jubilation upon seeing her rating of 94.00 introduced.
She fell on her subsequent runs whereas making an attempt to debut the 1260 – three and a half revolutions within the air – however the sheer amplitude for her opening foray was greater than sufficient to safe the gold over Queralt Castellet of Spain, who earned the silver with a rating of 90.25, and Sena Tomita of Japan, whose 88.25 was good for bronze.
Kim’s resounding win performed out earlier than an viewers that included her pal Eileen Gu, the freeskier from California who captured the freestyle huge air gold on Tuesday competing for China. The 2 embraced on the backside of the pipe earlier than Kim headed again up for her ultimate try.
“I used to be so happy with myself,” an elated Kim mentioned within the aftermath. “I had the worst follow, ever. I in all probability landed my run twice once I’m used to touchdown it eight instances, usually, and in order that places you in a bizarre headspace. It felt so inconsistent. I didn’t need to really feel all that strain of getting to land my first security run (in competitors). I overflowed with emotion once I was in a position to land it on the primary go, and it opened up lots of alternative for me to go strive one thing new (in her second and third runs).”
You’ll be able to learn the total report beneath:
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