Chloe Kim won her third world championship in snowboard halfpipe on Saturday and clinched a spot on her third Olympic team in 2026.
Kim, the two-time reigning Olympic gold medalist, won with a score of 93.50 points in her first of two runs in Switzerland.
Japan’s Sara Shimizu and Mitsuki Ono took silver and bronze.
Kim’s winning run included a switch double cork 1080 and a pair of 900s, according to commentators.
“Today was definitely a big mental battle, I think for all the ladies,” said Kim, who along with the other 11 women had to wait out a two-hour weather delay. “I definitely had a couple mental breakdowns during practice, so I’m just really happy I was able to land something.”
Her second run was a victory lap with the title already secured. She attempted a switch frontside 1260 stalefish, a trick that’s believed to have never been done in women’s competition, but didn’t land it.
“My favorite part about a victory lap is trying to progress the sport and try to do the craziest run I’ve ever done,” she said afterward. “I was really hoping to put that down here, but next time.”
The top American woman in the world rankings come Tuesday clinches a spot on the team for the Milan Cortina Games, should she also be in the top three overall.
Kim, who went into worlds ranked first, will meet that criteria, according to U.S. Ski and Snowboard. Up to three more women can make the halfpipe team later in the qualifying period.
Next February, Kim can become the first person to win three consecutive Olympic snowboard halfpipe gold medals.
She took one season off after winning her second Olympic gold medal in 2022. This season, she repeated as X Games champion and also became the first woman to land a double cork 1080 in competition.
“I think I’m back,” she said. “I really started to find the joy for the sport again, and I think that’s been a really big change for me, a positive change.”
Later Saturday, Australian Scotty James won his fourth world title in men’s halfpipe. James, an Olympic silver and bronze medalist, prevailed with a 95-point second run.
He was joined on the podium by Japan’s Ruka Hirano (92.25) and Yuto Totsuka (92). The top American was 2022 Olympian Lucas Foster in eighth.
Japan’s Ayumu Hirano (no relation to Ruka), the 2022 Olympic gold medalist, missed worlds after a fall in training.
NBC airs highlights of The Snow League, the new snowboard halfpipe competition series founded by Shaun White, on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.
