American teenage sensation Chloe Kim romped to Olympic snowboarding gold in the women’s halfpipe Tuesday before bursting into tears as the enormity of her achievement sunk in.
The 17-year-old, who has melted the hearts of home fans in Pyeongchang thanks to her ever-ready smile and Korean heritage, justified her status as the hot favourite with an eye-popping top score of 98.25.
Kim had been assured of gold before her pulsating final run after China’s Liu Jiayu crashed on her last descent.
Pumping her fists after finishing with back-to-back 1080 spins, Kim was serenaded by a pumped-up crowd chanting: “Chloe Kim, Chloe Kim!”
But after wrapping herself in the American flag, Kim was suddenly overcome with emotion and the tears flowed as she celebrated with her Korean parents.
“I’m a little overwhelmed,” she said after composing herself. “I don’t really know what’s happening and I’m actually feeling a little anxious right now. – READ MORE
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One of the most dramatic stories of the games so far as been a 17-year-old American’s quest to win the gold medal for his country, and doing it against all odds.
Snowboarder Red Gerard managed to take the coveted gold medal in the snowboarding competition on the Games’ first day, his country’s first of the 2018 Games, making it not only enjoyable, but historic, too.
He even managed to get a profanity in on live television when he did it.
As the U.K. Daily Mail pointed out, the young man was so shocked that he blurted out “holy s***” (and worse) as he finished his final run, epithets easily heard by the Olympics’ international audience.
“It feels incredible. I’m just really happy that I got to land a run and I’m just really excited right now,” Gerard said.
“I’m just so happy that it all worked out. I was really happy when I saw I came in as first. I would have to guess that people are pretty surprised. I had a lot of fun and all I really want to do is just land runs.” – READ MORE