Chloe Kim is a first-generation Korean-American snowboarder, and two-time Olympic gold medalist.
At only 17 years old, at the 2018 Winter Olympics, she became the youngest woman to ever win an Olympic snowboarding gold medal. This year, at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, winning gold, she went on to become the first woman to win two gold medals in snowboarding at the Winter Olympics.
At 21 years old now, her accomplishments have become even greater and more impressive. She has won 12 gold medals total, with 2 at the Olympics, 2 at the World Championships, 6 at the Winter X Games, and 2 at the Winter Youth Olympics. Chloe Kim is the first person to win the title of champion at all four major events. Additionally, she has also won three ESPYs for Best Female Athlete, Best Female Olympian, and Best Female Action Sports Athlete, and was listed in Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2018.
Beyond this, her kind and hilarious personality have made her well-known and loved especially online. During the 2018 Winter Olympics, she was referred to as “the 17-year-old snowboarder who tweets while competing,” and when explaining why she didn’t cry while winning gold, is quoted to have said “I worked so hard on my eyeliner.”
Chloe Kim has been outspoken about the racism she experiences as part of the AAPI community since the rise of anti-AAPI hate crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic. She has spoken up about how hateful people have belittled her accomplishments, harassed her, and told her that she doesn’t belong ever since she was a child. She also has spoken about the isolation she feels since her sport is very white, as she is the only minority on the U.S. halfpipe snowboard team, and the fear for her own and her parents’ safety when she leaves her home.
Sharing her story of fighting her past shame and self-hate for being Asian, Chloe Kim opens up the conversation surrounding the struggle we face as a part of the AAPI community. She is a great inspiration, as one of the most accomplished women ever in her sport, and hopes to continue doing more for the AAPI community by breaking the silence and sharing more of what she has been through.
