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Chloe Kim’s return to X Games was a triumphant one.
On Friday night, the 23-year-old tied the record for the most gold medals in the women’s snowboard SuperPipe with her seventh in her already legendary career. She made some more history with Friday’s second never been done — on a victory lap no less.
“It’s great to be back in Aspen,” Kim told the broadcast.
Kim was not made available to the media for further interviews.
She laid down the event’s only 90-point run in her first trip down the halfpipe, already securing what would eventually be the winning score.
By the time she got to her last run as the last competitor, she was poised for a victory lap having already secured gold. But that didn’t stop her from full-sending.
Kim hit the first 1260 rotation in women’s halfpipe history on her third run.
“I’ve really wanted to do that trick for a long time,” Kim said on the broadcast. “I wish it was a little cleaner but I’m really stoked to put it down.”
She said she tried the trick unsuccessfully at Beijing, presumably at the 2022 Olympics.
Kim skipped the 2022 X Games in preparation for those Olympics and missed last year as she stepped away from competition to focus on her mental health.
But coming back to Aspen, it was like she never left. In nonconsecutive SuperPipe competitions, she’s won four in a row dating back to 2018. She’s now won seven total, with additional wins in Aspen in 2015 and 2016 and Oslo, Norway in 2016 as well. The lowest she’s placed in a SuperPipe competition was third in 2017; she also has a silver in 2014.
The seventh win ties her with Kelly Clark for the most in the discipline.
Kim scored a 96.33 on her best run. Mitsuki Ono took silver for her first X Games medal and Xuetong Cai took her fifth X Games medal with her fourth bronze.
Friday night’s action continued with the men’s snowboard Knuckle Huck at 7:30 p.m., men’s ski Big Air at 8:30 p.m. and the men’s snowboard SuperPipe at 9:30 p.m. Results of those events are available on aspendailynews.com.
Saturday’s lineup X Games’ biggest day, at least in terms of number of competitions, comes on Saturday starting at 10:30 a.m. with the men’s ski Slopestyle.
The middle of the day showcases some of the changes to the schedule with women’s inclusion in Knuckle Huck, first with snowboards at 12:30 p.m. then skis at 1:30 p.m.
The snowboard Street Style competition begins at 2:15 p.m., then the day’s longest break in the action takes place before the Hanna Faulhaber-less women’s ski SuperPipe at 5 p.m.
The women’s ski Big Air starts at 6:30 p.m. followed by the men’s snowboard Big Air at 8 p.m. Saturday concludes with the ski Knuckle Huck at 9 p.m.