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Livigno, Italy – Chloe Kim is scheduled to compete in the qualifying round of the women’s halfpipe competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics on Wednesday, despite sustaining a left shoulder injury during a training run in Switzerland in January. The qualifying round is set to commence at 4:30 a.m. ET at the Livigno Snow Park, with the final competition slated for Thursday at 1:30 p.m. ET on NBC .

Kim, the reigning world champion and a two-time Olympic gold medalist, injured her shoulder during a training session in the second week of January. She has since returned to the halfpipe, utilizing a brace on her left shoulder. Remarkably, Kim has stated that the brace has, “in a funny way, (made) my riding better,” according to reports from the Associated Press . Despite her physical preparation, Kim has openly acknowledged her anxiety leading up to the competition. “I have so much anxiety,” she said, adding that she is relying on “matcha (tea) and there’s good vibes here and my family’s here, so we’ll be good.”

Kim first burst onto the Olympic scene at the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang, becoming the youngest woman to win an Olympic gold medal in the halfpipe event. She continued her dominance at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, becoming the first woman to win back-to-back Olympic gold medals in the event . Her path to a potential third consecutive gold medal was briefly thrown into question by the shoulder injury, which occurred during what she described as a “silly fall” in Switzerland on January 8 .

The 25-year-classic Kim deferred her enrollment at Princeton University in 2018 following her first Olympic victory and later took a leave of absence during the COVID-19 pandemic to focus on snowboarding full-time . She began snowboarding at the age of four and quickly rose through the ranks, becoming the youngest athlete to win the superpipe at the 2015 Winter X Games .

Despite not having the opportunity for as many practice runs as she would have preferred, Kim expressed confidence in her physical and mental preparation. “I feel confident,” Kim said. “I feel really good about how I’m feeling physically and mentally, and that’s most crucial right now” . The extent to which the shoulder injury will impact her performance in the qualifying round and potential pursuit of a third gold medal remains to be seen.