Two-time Olympic gold medalist Chloe Kim is taking a break from competitive snowboarding — saying she needs time to “reset” and focus on her mental health.
Kim — who started snowboarding at 4 years old — is coming off a huge victory in the 2022 Winter Olympics … winning a gold medal in the halfpipe event.
The 22-year-old says it was fun but exhausting … and will take this season off to get herself right.
“I will be taking a full season off of competition just for my mental health,” Kim said on Cheddar News last week.
“Just want to reset. Don’t want to get right back into after such a fun but draining year at the same time.”
This isn’t the first time Kim has taken a break from boarding … after winning the gold medal in the 2018 Winter Olympics, she took the following season off and went to Princeton University to study anthropology.
Kim says going to the prestigious school was “refreshing,” and being around people who weren’t snowboarders or athletes helped.
“It was nice to know I can make friends with people that weren’t snowboarders or in the industry,” she said. “It’s just nice to have that separation and to get away from the thought of working.”
Kim does plan on returning for the 2026 Games in Italy — saying, “I just want to enjoy this moment, take it all in and then get back to it when I feel like I’m ready.”
“As of now, the plan is most definitely to go after a third medal.”
Besides the two Olympic gold medals, Kim is also a six-time X Games gold medalist and is the first to win the championship in all four major events (World, Olympic, Youth Olympic and X Games).
She also won three ESPY awards in 2018 for Best Female Athlete, Best Female Olympian and Best Female Action Sports Athlete.
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