BEIJING (AP) — American Chloe Kim has won gold in the women’s halfpipe at the Beijing Olympics.
She turned in a strong opening run as she easily defended her Olympic halfpipe title.
The last rider to drop into the halfpipe, and the contest already over, the 21-year-old American still attempted to go big one last time.
She fell, quickly got back up and casually glided the rest of the way down the halfpipe Thursday as the Olympic champion. She greeted her fellow medalists at the bottom with an embrace.
The only real drama was for second place, with 32-year-old Queralt Castellet of Spain taking silver at her fifth appearance at the Olympic Games. Sena Tomita of Japan held off Cai Xuetong of China for bronze.
No one was matching Kim’s height or demanding array of tricks. Not after an opening performance that featured a variety of different spins and rotations, including a front and backside 1080 (three spins each). That flawless run even appeared to surprised her as she covered her mouth in excitement. She later told her coach it was the best one she’s done.