Chloe Kim describes battling through injury and relearning tricks to compete at Olympics

American snowboarder Chloe Kim, who won a silver medal in the women’s halfpipe at the 2026 Winter Games in Italy, described to “CBS Mornings” the “intense rehab” she underwent and how she managed to compete through an injury at the Olympics.

The 25-year-old tore her labrum in her left shoulder after a crash in late January, less than a month before the Games. She said the injury “wasn’t necessarily painful,” but said her shoulder kept “coming out of place.”

“You just have to keep putting it back in and I didn’t have time to get surgery, which is the only way to repair it,” Kim said in an interview on Tuesday.

The decorated Olympian decided she still had to try and opted to compete.

“I had a shoulder brace on that mobilized or restricted a lot of the movement … so I wasn’t able to raise my arm and I couldn’t move my arm much at all,” she said.

Kim had to relearn how to do many of her tricks “because a lot of my tricks require me to use my arms.” 

“I kind of had to figure all that out in eight days. I think, eight days was — the eighth day was the night of the final at the Olympics,” she said.

Kim’s performance made her the first female snowboarder to reach the Olympic podium in halfpipe at three straight Games. She previously won gold at the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics.

The three-time Olympian now plans to get surgery for her injury. For six weeks she’ll need to use a sling, she said.

As for the future, she’s “not thinking about anything” right now when it comes to competing in the next Olympic Games, which will be held in the French Alps in 2030.

“I’m so proud”

Team USA won 33 medals at the Milan-Cortina Games, including a record 12 gold medals. The U.S. finished second in the medal count behind Norway.

Kim said she’s proud of her fellow athletes – especially the American women who had historic performances.

“I’m so proud of the girls,” Kim said. “I love my girls and we killed it.”

She’s also grateful for the support of her family, friends and boyfriend Myles Garrett, who plays for the Cleveland Browns.

“I think it’s so fun that everyone came out for that and it just made a really intense stressful moment so light and kind of grounded me,” Kim said. “Just to remind me why I’m here to begin with and it’s always been my support system.”

While Kim said “every athlete is different,” she revealed she and Garrett are similar in their routine, recovery and more.

“We just get each other in a lot of ways,” she said. “Myles has been in my life for a little over a year now and he’s been the most amazing supportive person in my life.”