Chloe Kim falls short of Olympic three-peat, but passes the torch to a protege from South Korea

LIVIGNO, Italy (AP) — Some might say the seeds of an Olympic-sized surprise in snowboarding were planted a month ago. That’s when Chloe Kim went skittering down a halfpipe in Switzerland, smashing her shoulder and turning her run for a third straight gold medal into a less-than-perfect scramble.

Kim herself saw it coming years ago. One of her favorite kids and protégés, Gaon Choi of South Korea, kept showing up at halfpipes for practice earlier than anyone else. She kept trying tricks no one else would dare.

Even with Kim at less than 100 percent, and with the halfpipe slowed by a steady light snow that turned Thursday night into an Italian-Alps postcard, and with the hype, and pressure, of making history hovering over everything — Kim wasn't going to just give it away. Someone would have to take down the sport's best rider.

That person was Choi. The 17-year-old overcame a brutal fall at the beginning of the night to post the highest score in the third and final round. Then, in an even bigger surprise, Kim had a chance to top her, but couldn’t.

If the new silver medalist was sad about that, it didn't show.

“She’s my baby,” Kim said of Choi, who is the same age she was when she won her first Olympic title eight years ago in South Korea. “Now I think I know how my mentors felt when I came on the stage.”

It was never inevitable that Kim, now 25, would win this contest. Since her last Olympic victory four years ago, Choi and a few other riders from Asia in the final have been steadily upping the difficulty on a halfpipe.

Kim, meanwhile, fell out of love with a sport that was growing too repetitive, too predictable.

“Doing the same thing over and over and winning didn't feel good,” she said. “I started to resent snowboarding.”

Then, she fell back in love — heartened by the prospect of trying new things. There were double-corks and 1440-degree spins in her repertoire, all ready to be spread out like Christmas presents with the whole world watching when the Olympics came around.

The shoulder injury in Switzerland changed all the math. It cut down on Kim's practice time. It made her vulnerable, questionable. She wore a brace on the shoulder. She revealed she would need surgery when she returns home.

“It was really scary for me to come back,” she said. “I was telling my coach and my therapist, I wished I'd fallen doing a trick, because when I do a trick, I know I can fall. However, when I dislocated my shoulder, I was in the flat bottom, and for some reason, I was so scared of riding through the damn flat bottom.”

The strain on Kim's psyche and her limited practice time certainly played a role in all this.

Then, there’s snowboarding itself.

Just this week at the Livigno Snow Park, two other women had a chance to become the first snowboarders to three-peat for the first time since the sport joined the Games back in 1998.

Ester Ledecka, the world's best in parallel giant slalom, flamed out early in her contest.

Anna Gasser watched a new generation of leapers beat her in big air.

Four years ago, the bad vibes from COVID-19 put a damper on Jamie Anderson's attempt in slopestyle.

In 2014 in Russia, Shaun White tried for his own three-peat and failed.

He, along with Kim's boyfriend, Myles Garrett, and Snoop Dogg, wearing a USA jacket with Kim’s face plastered on the front, were at the bottom of the pipe, waiting to watch some history.

An hour after the contest, White, who has seen a lot over the years, was still trying to sort out what happened.

“It’s a wild sport,” he said. “You can get injured. Someone can learn a new trick overnight. There’s a lot of variables. It’s never a sure thing.”

It did not, in White's eyes, diminish Kim's impact on snowboarding.

“She’s a legend. She’s got two golds. She’s no stranger to pressure. It just wasn’t her night, I think,” he said.

But it sure did start out as her night. Choi, whose “1” on her bib signified her ranking on the points list this season, was widely viewed as the biggest threat to a Kim dynasty.

But on her first run, she lost her bearings on a leap above the halfpipe and her board slammed harshly on the deck. Her knees collapsed and she skidded limply to the bottom. The music stopped and the festive crowd fell silent.

About five minutes passed and a stretcher came out. But suddenly, Choi popped up and rode to the bottom.

“I cried and clenched my teeth and started walking and felt the energy came back into my legs,” Choi said. “I thought, I can keep trying and I could get back into these Games.”

Kim's first run, meanwhile, was a technical masterpiece that included a Cab double-cork 1080. That's two flips with a twist, a trick she became the first woman to land in a contest last year and that hardly anyone else can do.

It put her in the lead and when Choi and the rest struggled in Round 2, this looked like it would play out like Kim's other two Olympic victories: A win secured and a chance to put on a show.

With the lead and nobody pushing her, she tried not one, but two double corks in her second run but fell.

It turned out to be her last, best chance.

Choi's winning run in Round 3 was a technically precise marvel. It included three 900-degree spins, all approaching the wall from different directions. The landings were smooth. At the bottom, Choi covered her face with her mittens. A gasp rang out when her score was posted: 90.25 — 2.25 more than the champion.

Right about then, the snow picked up.

And then, about 10 minutes later, came something nobody had seen on an Olympic halfpipe: Kim, the last rider to drop, facing an all-or-nothing run that would be the difference between a dynasty and an upset.

“I noticed the wall started to get a little sticky, but that's part of the competition,” Kim said of the intensifying snow. “No excuses here. I should've made that mental note when I made my first” jump of the last run.

Kim didn't make it past her first double cork. She skidded down the halfpipe, bounced back up, dusted herself off and rode down. She hugged bronze medalist Mitsuki Ono of Japan, then rushed over to Choi to join a swarm of Korean coaches who were hugging the new champion.

“I’m a winner because I was able to persevere and fight through,” Kim said.

Even though her protégé got the gold, the former champion said that felt like a win to her, too.

“I'm so damn proud of her,” Kim said. “Although we are in an individual sport, it means so much to me to know I've inspired a whole new generation. I'm aware that I can't do this forever.”

Associated Press writer Joseph Wilson contributed to this report.

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

United States' Chloe Kim and Cleveland Browns' Myles Garrett hug after Kim won the silver medal in the women's snowboarding halfpipe finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

From left, silver medalist United States' Chloe Kim, gold medalist South Korea's Choi Ga-on and bronze medalist Japan's Mitsuki Ono celebrate after the women's snowboarding halfpipe finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

South Korea's Choi Ga-on competes during the women's snowboarding halfpipe finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Gold medalist South Korea's Choi Ga-on reacts after winning the women's snowboarding halfpipe finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Silver medalist United States' Chloe Kim, left, claps as gold medalist South Korea's Choi Ga-on celebrates winning the the women's snowboarding halfpipe finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

United States' Chloe Kim reacts after her second run during the women's snowboarding halfpipe finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

United States' Chloe Kim competes during the women's snowboarding halfpipe finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Cleveland Browns' Myles Garrett and United States' Chloe Kim kiss after Kim won the silver medal in the women's snowboarding halfpipe finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

South Korea's Choi Ga-on celebrates with team members after her run during the women's snowboarding halfpipe finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

United States' Chloe Kim waits for her score during the women's snowboarding halfpipe finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

United States' Chloe Kim crashes during the women's snowboarding halfpipe finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

South Korea's Choi Ga-on reacts to her run during the women's snowboarding halfpipe finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

PHOENIX (AP) — When Jennifer Rizzotti arrived at UConn as a player in 1992, the expectations around the school, as well as the women's basketball landscape, were much different than they are today.

Geno Auriemma was only in his eighth season coaching the Huskies. UConn hadn't yet hoisted a national championship trophy. There wasn't nearly the same pressure to win that the Huskies face now. And women's basketball as a whole hadn't seen the unprecedented growth in sponsorships and popularity it is experiencing now.

By the 1994-95 season, Rizzotti and fellow UConn standout Rebecca Lobo helped the Huskies go undefeated en route to their first national title. Everything about the program changed, and even as women's basketball has evolved and skyrocketed in exposure, the Huskies have remained the gold standard.

“There was no thought that we were going to be undefeated,” Rizzotti said. “We didn't have that internal pressure. We didn't have external pressure. That's the last time a UConn team could play that way. Think about that: 1995 is the last time a UConn team could play without that kind of pressure.”

The Huskies have since won 12 national titles, reached the Final Four 25 times and won 30 conference titles. They've been ranked 653 weeks in The Associated Press women's basketball poll, and Auriemma is the winningest coach in women's college basketball history.

As conversations around the Final Four in Phoenix center around how the women's game has grown, the Huskies, who are competing for the second straight national title, have been at the forefront.

“You could tell that everything was aligned for this program to reach that pinnacle," said Rizzotti, who is currently the president of the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun. “I don't think anything of us would have predicted that it would have gone on as it had.”

Rizzotti joined former UConn players Stefanie Dolson, currently with the WNBA's Washington Mystics, and Shea Ralph, now Vanderbilt's coach, on a panel Friday at “The AP Top 25 Fan Poll Experience,” which is being held at Arizona State’s First Amendment Forum in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Earlier Friday, Big East commissioner Val Ackerman, former Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) commissioner Rich Ensor and AP women’s poll founder Mel Greenberg spoke on a panel moderated by college basketball analyst Debbie Antonelli on the growth of women's basketball at the college and pro levels.

“I think women's basketball has never been more popular,” said Ackerman, who was the first president of the WNBA from 1996-2005. “I think schools that are succeeding are really seeing, feeling and believing in the (return on investment). And UConn's a case in point.”

Ackerman sees the investment that the schools in this year's Final Four — UConn, Texas, South Carolina, and UCLA — have made in their programs to reach back-to-back national semifinals as a reflection of the growing importance of pouring resources into women's hoops.

“And that's done a world of good,” she added. “Programs like South Carolina, UCLA, you see what they're doing for their campuses. The investment is paying off in terms of the brand and engagement with the community and school reputation.”

Even as women's sports are drawing record crowds and WNBA players are set to make more money than ever, Ensor sees much more room to capitalize on this current growth.

“It has been about breaking down barriers, and they still exist,” Ensor said. “We marvel at what's happened, but we still recognize there's a lot more that's to come.”

AP Top 25 Fan Poll Experience: https://apnews.com/https:/apnews.com/projects/arizona-state-fan-poll-experience/

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

FILE - Connecticut's Breanna Stewart, left, drives to the basket as Cincinnati's Maya Benham, right, defends during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016, in Storrs, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill, File)

From left, Debbie Antonelli, Val Ackerman, Rich Ensor and Mel Greenberg sit on a panel during an event Friday, April 3, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Val Ackerman, commissioner of the Big East Conference, listens during an event Friday, April 3, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/John Locher)

UConn head coach Geno Auriemma reacts after his team defeated Notre Dame in the Elite Eight of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, March 29, 2026, in Fort Worth, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)