There wasn’t much for Chloe Kim to add to her resume.
But at the World Championships in Park City, Utah, on Friday, the 18-year-old managed yet another milestone, adding a world title to a list of accolades that includes an Olympic gold medal and five X Games titles.
Kim clinched the title on her first run with a score of 93.50, leading the field by nearly 10 points. She upped the level of difficulty in her third run, attempting a frontside double cork 1080, but did not stay on her feet. China’s Cai Xuetong, the 2017 world champion, finished second, and American Maddie Mastro placed third for her first medal at the World Championships.
Despite her dominance over the rest of the field, Kim tends to focus more on progression than easy victory laps: at the Olympics, she had a gold medal secured with her first run score of 93.75, but put down an even more difficult third run – including back-to-back 1080s – to increase her score to 98.25.
Kim, who said she was “stoked” about her performance, spoke with NBC’s Tina Dixon after the competition about her attempt to land the double. In October, she became the first woman to do it in the halfpipe during training, but has not yet executed it in competition.
“I was really nervous,” she said. “[I] landed my first run super clean…[and] the second run was kind of a setup for the double. I think the next contest hopefully I’ll be able to do it. I’m stoked I tried it and glad I’m walking away in one piece.”
Kim, who dominated the field to win gold in PyeongChang, hasn’t lost a competition in over a year, winning the US Open to end last season and topping the field at the Dew Tour and the X Games earlier this season.
She plans to swap technical tricks for textbooks in the fall as part of the Princeton University Class of 2023.
PyeongChang bronze medalist Scotty James won the world title in men’s halfpipe. The Australian has continued to deliver since the Olympics, where he finished behind Shaun White and Ayumu Hirano: he won a second X Games title last month and defended his 2017 world title in Park City with a technical run that included two 1260s and his signature amplitude.
Japan’s Yuto Totsuka placed second, and Pat Burgener of Switzerland finished third. American Toby Miller, an 18-year-old from Mammoth Lakes, California, finished just off the podium in fourth.
Coverage of the World Freestyle Skiing and Snowboarding Championships continues tonight with moguls, live at 9 p.m. on NBCSN.
