SI

Chloe Kim Had Such a Classy Move Seconds After Falling Short of Gold in Halfpipe

This was a classy move by the silver medalist.
Chloe Kim immediately went to Choi Ga-on to celebrate her gold medal win.
Chloe Kim immediately went to Choi Ga-on to celebrate her gold medal win. | Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Chloe Kim was extremely close to making Olympic history if she had won the gold medal in the women’s halfpipe final on Thursday as she would’ve become the first snowboarder to win gold three Olympics in a row. Instead, she won the silver medal as South Korea’s Choi Ga-on posted an impressive final run to get the win.

Kim went last in the competition, and she ended up falling on her final run. Ga-on and her team understandably began cheering as they knew it would be a gold medal win for the 17-year-old. As Kim made her way back to the gathering area she immediately went up to Ga-on to hug her and celebrate her gold medal win. What a classy move by the snowboarding G.O.A.T.

Kim had such a great quote after the event, saying of Ga-on:

“It’s all about passing the torch, so there’s no one else I would have rather stood next to on the podium than her,” Kim said. “I’m so proud of her and I’m so excited to see what she does next.”

Kim’s silver medal is still extremely impressive. She’s won three Olympic medals in as many Olympic appearances—not very many athletes can say the same.

Ga-on scored 90.25 in her final run, while Kim posted her score of 88 in her first run on Thursday.


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Madison Williams
MADISON WILLIAMS

Madison Williams is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, where she specializes in tennis but covers a wide range of sports from a national perspective. Before joining SI in 2022, Williams worked at The Sporting News. Having graduated from Augustana College, she completed a master’s in sports media at Northwestern University. She is a dog mom and an avid reader.

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