Chloe Kim has suffered mentally (see later interview) and physically, a serious shoulder injury only a month ago. However, she yesterday qualified for the snowboarding halfpipe event. She thus will today compete for the gold medal. But I'll let you watch that event in peace.
- Was born 26 years ago in Torrance, California.
- Her parents emigrated to the U.S. from South Korea in 1982.
- Her father started working at minimum-wage jobs to save money for college.
- He went on to study engineering at El Camino College in Torrance, working nights as a machinery operator.
- Jon Jin and Boran Yun had two earlier daughters, with Chloe born in 2000.
- Father likes to say that she was born in the year of the dragon (I was born in 1940, also a dragon year), one reason for her precocity.
- Chloe began snowboarding at 4 at the Southern California resort of Mountain High.
- Her parents bought her first snowboard for $25 on eBay.
- Initially trained by her father studying other snowboarders online.
- Spent her third- and fourth-grade years in Geneva, Switzerland to live with her aunt.
- When she began to show potential, her father, Jong Jin, quit his job as an engineer to drive her to practice in the mountains and when she competed, everywhere.
- At ten, they went around the world to just show up at competitions and impressed everyone.
- Began to be financially supported by Nike, Toyota, Roxy and Monster Energy for elite training.
- In 2016 became the first woman to land back-to-back 1080 degree spins in snowboarding, and scored 100 points, the second person to ever do so. That other person is Shaun White.
- Her first Winter Olympics was 2018 in Pyeongchang, South Korea, where she won gold in the half-pipe, then at age 17, to become youngest women to win in this event. Made Time magazine's annual Time 100 list.
- Began matriculating at Princeton University in 2019, but is now on a leave of absence.
- Was in the 2019 Charlie's Angel film.
- Competed as Jellyfish in season 4 of the Masked Singer, and made it to the semifinals.
- Won the women's half-pipe again at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
- In 2024 became first female to land a 1260 in competition.
- She is fluent in French, English and Korean.
- Her appearance on a special edition of the Kellogg's Corn Flakes box set a new record for fastest-selling cereal box in company history.
- Entering the 2026 Winter Olympics, she already has 12 gold medals in snowboarding's biggest competitions, including two Olympic golds.
- Is in a relationship with NFL All-Pro defensive end Myles Garret.
- What's the state of Chloe Kim these days?
I have no complaints. I'm happier than ever. People are always asking me how I'm preparing for the Olympics. I like to just keep things the same. Consistency is the key here. So no stress on my end.
- She has three pets: an Arabian horse, 9-year old dog and a ball python snake named Jelly Bean
- You had a tough time mentally in 2022...
- A few weeks back, in late November, you and your boyfriend, Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett, shared a kiss in front of the cameras before a game. You and he had made a few public appearances, but that moment sort of officially confirmed that the two of you were dating. Did you guys plan on intentionally going public that day? Or did it sort of just happen?
I’ve never really been in a public relationship. So I think I've always been a little scared of it. But I did not know that that was going to happen. I think it was a really sweet thing. No one's mad about it. Which is a good start. I don't think we were trying super hard to keep it private. But it wasn't something we wanted to blast publicly.
- When it comes to these specific Olympics, what are you most excited about?
A lot of things. I love Italy, I love the culture, I love the food. I think it'll be really nice to be in that environment. I'm also staying with my family this time around. I think that'll be really fun. And I feel really chill going into it. I know what to expect now going into my third Games. So I feel really good.
I can report that:
- She has already won a silver medal for Freeski Slopestyle.
- However, she apparently has a fractured finger/torn UCL hand.
- Remaining are two events where she was the gold medalist in Beijing (2022): Freeski Big Air and Freeskie Halfpipe.
- She leads all the athletes competing this year with a financial worth of $23.1 million.
- Although maybe American NHL superstar Auston Matthews is #1, with a reported worth between $15.2-$30 million. I should add that both the USA and Canadian men's ice hockey teams played today, and almost surely will meet on February 22 (final day, when the Closing Ceremony occurs) for the gold.
- The other top earners are Americans Lindsey Vonn $8 million, Mikaela Shiffrin $7 million and Chloe Kim $4 million.
- By the way, each American athlete at these games will get $200,000. Your tax money? Nope. Billionaire Ross Stevens, founder and CEO of Stone Ridge Holdings Group, ldonated $100 million in 2025 to crete the Stevens Financial Security Awards to provide financial support for U.S. Olympic and Paralympic athletes. Thus, that $200,000/person award should continue into 2032. Well, actually, turns out that it's not yet real money: $100,000 will be received 20 years in the future, plus a $100,000 life insurance.
The latest medal count as I finish this posting.
Olympics Medal Leaders
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Total
- Italy
- Norway
- United States
- 6
- 7
- 4
- 2
- 2
- 7
- 8
- 5
- 3
- 16
- 14
- 14
-
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