Two-time Olympic gold medalist Chloe Kim revealed Tuesday that, even though the USA snowboarding star tore the labrum in her shoulder during a halfpipe training run in Switzerland last week, she’ll be “good to go” for this year’s Winter Olympics.
The Opening Ceremony for the Milano Cortina Games is Feb. 6, but the women’s Olympic halfpipe competition doesn’t begin until Feb. 11.
Advertisement
“The bad news is that I tore my labrum. I’m not surprised by that, but it’s official,” the 25-year-old Kim said in an Instagram video updating her injury status on Tuesday.
“The good news is that I just tore my labrum, and I guess there are two different ways to do it, and the way I did it is less severe than the others, so I’m really happy about that.”
Kim provided the update after initially announcing last Thursday that he she had dislocated her shoulder ahead of the Laax Open, and one month away from the Olympics.
She explained Tuesday that she had an MRI on Friday.
Advertisement
Kim noted that she’s “devastated” that she has to sit out the Laax Open, which she described as one of her favorite events. She’s also expected to miss the X Games the subsequent weekend.
“Obviously, I’m really disappointed that I can’t snowboard until right before the Olympics, which is going to be hard,” she said. “I haven’t gotten nearly the amount of reps that I would’ve liked, but that’s OK.
“It’s funny, I’ve been doing this for so long, and every season I am met with a different set of challenges, so I guess this is going to be the one this year.”
This year, Kim is one of several women trying to become the first snowboarder to take gold in three straight Olympics.
Advertisement
This time, she’ll be wearing a shoulder brace, but she’s just happy she’ll be ready to go for the event.
“I’m so grateful that I will be good to go for the Olympics,” she said.
Leave a Reply