The Japan Times - US halfpipe star Kim seeks golden repeat at Beijing

The 21-year-old American snowboarder of South Korean heritage has been stunning since returning last January after interrupting her career when she broke her right ankle and also attended Princeton University.

In a rich vein of form, she says she is raring to defend her title in China.

"I have a very clear picture what I need to do as an athlete and going into the Olympics I'm very well prepared," Kim told the Olympic Channel.

"I'm going to go in with the same mindset as the last one, just no pressure. I'm going to do the best I can and we'll see what happens."

Kim extended her win streak at last month's event in Copper Mountain, Colorado. After falling in her first two runs, she unleashed two of her trademark three-rotation 1080 spins to win the title.

"With the Olympics right around the corner, this is a great way to start the season," Kim said.

"I'm so happy to have landed it. I don't want to leave myself in that position again. It was horrible."

Kim, whose parents are from South Korea, became the first woman to land a 1080 in halfpipe competition in 2016 as a 15-year-old. She won halfpipe and slopestyle gold at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games.

At the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, she captured halfpipe gold at age 17, becoming the youngest woman to win an Olympic snowboard title.

Kim won world halfpipe titles in 2019 and 2021 and owns six Winter X Games SuperPipe crowns, the most recent coming last year in Aspen.

But Kim's life out of the competitive arena has proven more challenging.

In a recent interview she revealed how she had struggled to relax during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"My boyfriend had to make me stop watching the news, because I would literally sit in front of the TV and cry," Kim told the New York Times. "I didn't really know what the symptoms of depression were -- I just thought it meant you were sad, which is not the case.

"But I had other symptoms. I was really tired all the time. I slept a lot. I wasn't motivated to do anything. It was hard for me to get out of bed and go take care of myself."

It didn't help that Kim received an Instagram message from a top snowboarder meant for someone else, a text calling her an obscene name.

"I just felt like everyone is out to get me or something," Kim told the Times. "So I was like, OK, if I'm going to be the villain in the story, then I don't know if I want to do it. It's just not fun.

"It's definitely one of those things that I wish I didn't see, but I'm also grateful. If I didn't see it, I would have been, like, 'Oh, cool, we're still all good.' It's helpful for me to know. It definitely made me put my guard up a little more."

When there were US attacks on people of Asian heritage over Covid-19, Kim admitted in an ESPN essay she worried "every time my parents step out the door."

- 'It shouldn't happen' -

Kim also notes she has endured insults in public and on social media.

"I started to get numb to it and that's a problem," she said. "I've recently started to realize that it's not something that I should have ever had to get used to. It shouldn't happen."

Kim has always displayed a charisma that has made her a popular culture favorite, from cereal boxes and magazine covers to a 2020 run on television's "The Masked Singer" and cameos in films and music videos.

"I'm always just going to try to be, like, a positive influencer," Kim told the Olympic Channel.

"I always do my best to be the best role model possible. I'm very aware of what I do, what I say and how I react in certain situations."

Kim told Elle magazine working with a trainer as she has aged has boosted her confidence as she navigates adulthood.

"You're not 10 anymore where you're a rubber ball and just bounce back up. You can't do that," Kim said. "So I got a trainer and I feel so much stronger and so much more confident on a snowboard."

H.Takahashi--JT