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American snowboarder Chloe Kim’s hopes of winning a triple gold medal at the Winter Olympics are in serious doubt after she suffered a surprising shoulder injury.
Kim said Thursday she had “the stupidest fall” in training that caused her to dislocate her shoulder, threatening her chance to win a third consecutive gold medal at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in February.
Kim posted video of the accident in Laax, Switzerland, earlier this week while she was training for a key Olympic tune-up next weekend. The footage shows Kim tumbling violently on the snow and sliding on the half-pipe.
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Kim won the gold medal in the women’s half-pipe event at the 2018 Olympics in South Korea. (Reuters)
Kim did not specify which shoulder she injured, but said she was “trying to stay optimistic” despite little clarity on her recovery timetable. The 25-year-old said she will have an MRI scheduled for Friday which will reveal the extent of the damage.
“The good thing is I have autonomy, I don’t feel too much pain, I just don’t want it to keep coming out, which is what happened,” she said. “I’m just trying to stay really optimistic. I feel really good about my snowboarding situation right now, so I know that the minute I get clearance and I’m ready to go, everything should be fine.”
Kim’s absence would deprive the Winter Games of one of its biggest names and one of its best storylines.
She is attempting to become the first action sports athlete to win three consecutive gold medals. Shaun White won three gold medals in the halfpipe, but they were spread over five matches.
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USA’s Chloe Kim celebrates after becoming the youngest woman to win an Olympic gold medal in snowboarding. (Reuters/Jorge Silva)
Kim was the star of the 2018 Olympics, a bubbly teenager who won gold in her parents’ home country of South Korea. Four years ago, in China, she won again, with this victory punctuated by her messages about the ups and downs of success and fame.
Despite all this, no one was able to beat her.
Two years ago at the Winter X Games, Kim became the first woman to perform a 1,260-degree spin in competition. Before that, she was the first woman to land a double cork 1080 – two flips and a spin – and the first to land consecutive 1080s.
She was working on adding to that repertoire for the Milan Cortina Games and, if healthy, would be the hot favorite to win again. This injury calls all that into question. The Olympic qualification round in women’s half-pipe will take place on February 11.
The Laax Open is scheduled for next weekend, and even if Kim were healthy, there is a chance she could make it to the Olympics without having made the final of a competition this season.
Chloe Kim of the United States reacts to an injury suffered during training before competing in the women’s snowboard halfpipe final during the 2025 Toyota American Grand Prix at Copper Mountain on December 19, 2025, in Copper Mountain, Colorado. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Kim qualified for Team USA by winning a competition last year and has kept a light schedule in 2025-26. She fell while warming up for the final in Copper Mountain, Colo., last month and also withdrew after injuring her shoulder. This injury was not considered serious.
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Regarding her latest shoulder injury, she said: “It should be okay. I just hope it doesn’t take too long, but I’m going to take it easy for a little while.”
