On Daily Routines, we profile successful leaders, entrepreneurs, artists, executives and athletes to explore their routines, schedules, habits and day in the life.
When American snowboarder Chloe Kim came first in the women’s halfpipe at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, she became the first woman in history to win two gold medals in that event. It was just another notch to add to Kim’s growing list of major achievements in the world of snowboarding. She had previously won gold at the 2018 Winter Olympics at just 17 years old, becoming the youngest woman to do so in snowboarding.
But Kim didn’t give herself all the credit for the spectacular milestone. Instead, she shouted out her parents for all their commitment and sacrifices over the years.
“I’m so grateful for them — I feel like this is the least I could do for how much they’ve done for me,” she said in an interview with InStyle. “It pushes me to work harder than ever before. They’re my world, and whenever I accomplish something, I’m like, ‘You guys did this, we did this — it’s not just me.’”
Born and raised in California, Kim started her journey to become the world’s best snowboarder early on in life. She was just four years old when her father, Jong Jin, and mother, Boran, decided to try out snowboarding for the first time. “I definitely didn’t like it at the beginning,” Kim recalled in an interview with Sports Illustrated. “Probably because I was four and it was cold out.”
After seeing that his daughter was a natural at it, Jong Jin started taking Chloe to Mammoth Mountain Ski Area (a 6-hour drive from their home in Torrance) to practice. A few years later, Jong Jin quit his engineering job so he could dedicate all his time and effort on helping his daughter realise her dream.
It wasn’t long before Kim started racking up wins on the world stage. After coming in second in superpipe at the 2014 Winter X Games, Kim came back the next year to win gold and become the youngest gold medallist at the time. In 2016, she then became the first American female snowboarder to win a gold medal at the Winter Youth Olympic Games. At her first Olympics in 2018, Kim became the youngest woman to ever win gold at the Olympics in the halfpipe at the age of 17.
I think my favorite memory was just seeing my family after. My dad immigrated from Korea a while ago and he sacrificed so much to support me, help me pursue my dreams, and become an Olympian and Olympic gold medalist. Not only my dad, but my whole family came together and they worked so hard to support me and always be there for me. At the end after I had won, seeing them was just the best moment of my life. I was so happy. They were so happy. We did it. We were so excited.
Snowboarder Chloe Kim On Hot Cheetos, Roxy, And Going For Gold (Again) At The 2022 Winter Olympics | Elle
Chloe Kim’s training routine & diet
On a typical day, Chloe Kim is up at 7am. “I hate rushing,” she told PopSugar. “I need some time to lay in bed. I’m a pretty slow person in the morning.” Kim, who is famous for having a serious sweet tooth and indulging in treats, will then have a breakfast of “chocolate pancakes, some biscuits and gravy, toast, and cottage cheese.”
According to a 2022 interview with Shape, Kim spends typically spends two hours a day performing drills on snow, although she increased it to six hours a day as the Beijing Games approached closer. She also has a lot of physical therapy and stability work done. “My training routine’s pretty crazy,” she revealed. “I went to Switzerland for a month just to get all my tricks super dialed, and then I came home for like a week, and then we were off to Beijing.”
During the summers, Kim will work out in the gym to strengthen her body and reduce the risk of injuries. She focuses on a lot of heavy lifting and single-leg exercises, as well as adding in outdoors running to her routine.
Lunch will usually be one of her favourites – french fries and pizza – then she’s back performing halfpipe drills again for the rest of the day. “I don’t even feel like I’m working hard or working out,” she told PopSugar. “It’s just, like fun, and I might be a little sore the next day, but I’m so down to go do it again. It’s a pretty good workout! I’d highly recommend it!”
After snowboarding practice, Kim will head to the gym to do some light recovery exercises. “I hop on a bike for about 20 minutes to flush my legs out,” she said, as well as adding in some “light core, a little cardio” to finish off the session. Dinner time is easy for Kim, it all depends on her mood. One day it could be In-N-Out, the next day, Chipotle. “I eat whatever I crave; that’s who I am!” she told PopSugar “I love food, just thinking about taking my favorite foods out of my diet would absolutely crush me.”
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