Chloe Kim, USA
Snowboarder
It’s easy to draw comparisons between the mirrored ascents of Chloe Kim and Naomi Osaka. Both enjoyed incredible breakout years in 2018, both are American born but have attained iconic status in Asia and both are set to dominate their respective sports for years to come. In fact, if they ever met, you could quite easily see them becoming friends given their twinned youthful exuberance. The two spearhead a new generation of young women taking over the sporting landscape and Kim is doing so while still a teenager. The youngest female snowboarder to win an Olympic gold medal aged 17, a five-time winner on the World Cup and four-time X Games champion, Kim has been virtually peerless. She claimed halfpipe gold in Pyeongchang and that victory launched her into the mainstream consciousnesses of South Koreans and Americans. Born in California to Korean immigrants, Kim’s never-ending smiling and teenage vitality has made her superstar. Speaking fluent Korean, the 18-year-old has masterfully balanced her duel heritages. A supremely intelligent individually, Kim will spend 2019 juggling her college studies with preparation for the 2022 Winter Olympics where she is expected to dominate once more.
– In October, Kim became the first woman to land a double cork front-side 1080, doing so in training.
– Kim will be juggling snowy mountains with paper ones as she begins studies at Princeton this year. She’ll major in something science-based and given her gravity-defying skills, studying could aid the Asian-American’s skills.
– A breakout year was topped by winning best female athlete, best female U.S. Olympic athlete and best female action sports athlete at the ESPYS while more awards arrived at the Laureus Sports Awards.
Did you know…
America’s sweetheart has a fondness for the sweeter things in life. An ice-cream and Cheetos connoisseur, the teenager found a way to calm her nerves during the Winter Olympics – churros. Kim tweeted that she’d eaten two of the “pretty bomb” treats just prior to winning Olympic gold, recommending them as a fix for nervousness.
“I love that people look up to me. I think that’s really amazing and something I never thought would happen to me. But honestly, I’ve always just been about spreading love and positivity, and for being a good person and having a good heart. And if you’re helping others out, that’s the best person you could be.” – Chloe Kim (Source: refinery29.com)
Twitter: @ChloeKim
Instagram: chloekim
