First run in halfpipe final sparks emotional reaction, is good enough for gold medal

Chloe Kim’s first run in the Olympic women’s halfpipe final Wednesday left her emotional — and ultimately made history. 

She executed a huge method air and then nailed a frontside 1080, cab 900, switch backside 540 and cab 1080 to post a 94.00 score. After she landed the last trick to finish the run, she immediately fell to her knees, in awe of her performance. 

CHLOE KIM STOMPS IT IN RUN 1.@ChloeKim‘s 94.00 puts her in the top spot in the Snowboard Halfpipe Final! #WinterOlympics

?: @nbc & @peacockTV
Stream: https://t.co/HTEl6kZ7K4 pic.twitter.com/EP7RnV2qxf

— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) February 10, 2022

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Kim’s family was shown during the NBC broadcast cheering enthusiastically for her back home in Los Angeles. 

After she came back up top to prepare for her second run, she hugged her coach Rick Bower and shared her reaction to the run. 

“That was the best I’ve ever done it,” Kim said, hugging Bower. “I was overflowed with emotion.”

That first run meant EVERYTHING to @ChloeKim.

What a moment. #WinterOlympics pic.twitter.com/W6XWlDglc5

— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) February 10, 2022

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She attempted a 1260 on her remaining two runs but fell. Still, Kim she stayed on top of the leaderboard to repeat as a gold medalist (she won in 2018 at Pyeongchang) and make history as the first two-time winner in the event.

During the competition, Kim shared an Instagram story captioned, “ow, my butt!”

THIS JUST IN FROM @ChloeKim ??? pic.twitter.com/MBH4ywIuhx

— On Her Turf (@OnHerTurf) February 10, 2022

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Kim was one of 12 competitors who advanced to the final after Tuesday’s qualifying round. Spain’s Queralt Castellet came in second to win silver, and Japan’s Sena Tomita won bronze.