Fans watching the halfpipe snowboarding final in the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics were waiting to see if star Chloe Kim would be the first-ever woman or man to win three straight gold medals at the Games. When the scoring came in and saw Kim finish with the silver medal on Thursday, many online claimed she was robbed. However, Kim herself has revealed that she has a different perspective on the outcome.

“I think that there was a lot of conversation happening about the three-peat,” Kim said to the Associated Press after the event. “I was thinking about it before, but I think the minute I injured myself, I was like, that doesn't matter anymore. So this feels like a win to me because a month ago it didn't seem too possible.”

Kim suffered a scary injury just under a month before the Games started, telling the public that she dislocated her shoulder while practicing. The 25-year-old still chose to compete in Italy while wearing a brace, though, and maintained the lead in the final through the first two runs before being overtaken by South Korea's Gaon Choi in the last round.

Article Continues Below

Kim scored an 88.00 on her initial run and had a chance to claim a third career gold medal in halfpipe by surpassing Choi's 90.25 on her final attempt, but she fell while trying to execute a switch frontside 1080. After the event, Kim clearly didn't have any hard feelings for Choi and immediately congratulated the 17-year-old on her win.

“It's all about passing the torch, so there's no one else I would have rather stood next to on the podium than her,” Kim said about Choi. “I'm so proud of her, and I'm so excited to see what she does next.”

Kim made it clear that she's in a good place despite what some see as a disappointing outcome, even remaining all smiles while celebrating with boyfriend and NFL star Myles Garrett on the sidelines.