Chloe Kim of the United States made a successful Olympic debut in the snowboard halfpipe qualification run at Pheonix Snow Park in Pyeongchang, Gangwon, on Monday.
The top-ranked Kim cruised through the qualification run, scoring a 95.50 in her second qualifying run. Being the first female halfpipe snowboarder to receive a perfect score of 100 after landing back-to-back 1080s, Kim received significant attention worldwide even before competing in the event.
Kim responded to the high expectations, finishing first in both qualification runs. By receiving a score of 91.50 in the first run, which excludes the highest and the lowest score, Kim was the first to guarantee her spot in the finals.
Chloe Kim on Qualifying for the Finals
“I’m always more nervous on qualifiers. So tomorrow, I think I can really focus on what I want to do,” Kim said after the qualification runs. “The pipes have been so good. I’m so thankful that the condition has been amazing. I’ve been really trying to clean up all the little details and I think I just did that, so I’m really excited.”
Kwon Sun-oo, the only Korean female halfpipe snowboarder, failed to qualify to the finals. He received a score of 19.25 points in the first run, as she had an unsuccessful landing after a 720-degree jump. Kwon did better on the second run, receiving 35.00 points, but it wasn’t enough to finish in the top 12, placing her 20th out of 24 snowboarders.
