Torrance Teen Snowboarder Competes In Winter Olympics

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA – While watching the Winter Olympics from the comfort of your home, one of your South Bay neighbors will be shreddin' the gnar (snowboarding lingo for it "riding the terrain") in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Chloe Kim, a 17-year-old snowboarder from Torrance, is one of four American women that made it through to the finals in women's halfpipe snowboarding and will be competing tonight about 6 p.m. tonight. Kim posted the top score during qualifying Monday – she was the only rider to go over 90 points, receiving 91.50 in her first run and 95.50 in her second, according to MLine.com

Born in Long Beach, Kim began snowboarding when she was 4-years-old and competed for Team Mountain High when she was six. She spent third and fourth grade studying in Geneva, Switzerland and trained in Valais, Switzerland, from ages eight to ten. She goes to La Palma Christian School and is expected to graduate this year; to top it off, she speaks French and Korean. Like any Olympic athlete, her training schedule is intense.

"On average, I do six hours on snow, then two to four hours on dry land, five days per week," Kim said in an interview with Seventeen Magazine.

Kim is currently on the Mammoth Mountain Snowboard Team. At such a young age, she already has many victories to her name. In 2016, she was nominated for the ESPYS award for Best Breakthrough Athlete, and won gold at the Lillehammer 2016 Youth Olympic Winter Games for halfpipe and slopestyle (snowboarding down a course that includes obstacles such as rails, jumps and others).

She crushes her competition in the halfpipe category – she came in first place at the 2017 FIS World Cup Standings, and won gold at the 2016 X Games Aspen, 2016 X Games Oslo, and the 2015 X Games Aspen. She also won silver in the 2014 X Games Aspen, and third place in the 2016 FIS World Cup Standings halfpipe categories.

The Winter Olympics take place from Feb. 9-25. The women's halfpipe and slopestyle qualifications and competitions will be on Feb. 11-13. For more information, visit the 2018 Winter Olympics website.

Photo by Dean Blotto Gray