La Palma Teen Wins Second Gold Medal at Winter Youth Olympics

Chloe Kim of La Palma won the Winter Youth Olympic Games gold medal in women’s slopestyle snowbarding Friday in Hafjell, Norway, despite little practice, a stomach problem and a sore knee.

Kim’s score of 87.50 on her first run at the Hafjell Freepark was higher than any of the 16 other riders had on any of their two runs. She had a 88.25 on her second run.

“I didn’t expect to even podium at all because I didn’t practice at all,” the 15-year-old Kim said of her slopestyle gold medal.

“I kind of got a little stomach problem thing yesterday and my knee was super sore, so I didn’t ride at all yesterday. I took maybe three runs the day before.

“I was hitting the small side. Today was the first time I hit the big jumps, so I was literally going in with no expectations.

“I was like, ‘All right, maybe I’ll ride by the rollers,’ but no, I showed up, the jumps were pretty mellow, the speed was pretty good; so I was stoked to win.”

Elli Pikkujamsa won the silver medal with a score of 82.25 and her Finnish teammate Henna Ikola the bronze with a score of 79.25.

Kim won the gold medal in women’s halfpipe snowbarding Sunday. The sophomore at La Palma Christian School rarely competes in slopestyle.

Kim carried the U.S. flag during last Friday’s opening ceremony at Lysgardsbakkene Ski Jumping Arena in Lillehammer, Norway, the same venue used for the opening ceremony of the 1994 Winter Olympics.

“I literally had so much fun here,” Kim said. “I didn’t expect any of this, and I didn’t know it would be that much fun. Once I was here I just had so much fun. I met so many people right off the bat and it was awesome.”

Kim is the youngest person to win a gold medal at the X Games, would have qualified for the 2014 Winter Olympics but was too young and was selected by Time in 2015 as one of the 30 most influential teenagers.

Kim began snowboarding when she was 4 years old and competing for Team Mountain High at age 6. She spent third and fourth grades studying in Geneva and trained in Valais, Switzerland from when she was 8 to 10 years old.

The Winter Youth Olympic Games are conducted by the International Olympic Committee. They began in 2012 and are held every four years. Competitors in this year’s Games must be between 15 to 18 years old as of Dec. 31, 2016.

--City News Service, photo credit: Arnt Folvik for YIS/IOC