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| TWITTER / NBC |
Asian Americans grabbed the Olympic spotlight Thursday: figure skater Nathan Chen and snowboarder Chloe Kim won gold medals in their respective events at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
Kim, 21, became the first woman to win back-to-back gold medals in the snowboard halfpipe.
The Princton student did her best run in the half-pipe in her first attempt. She jumped high into the air in her five tricks, two of which were 1080s. That earned her a score of 94. None of her rivals came close to the score or her athletic performance.
At the end of her run, the Californian fell to her knees and instead of a look of triumph, she expressed surprise at her almost perfect performance.
Later she admitted she was nervous after having "the worst practice of my life."
"I was dealing with all sorts of emotions (before the contest), but I reminded myself I just have to land one run, and I was so happy to do that," Kim told NBC.
Competitors are given three runs and the highest score is the one that counts. It is a good thing because in her subsequent runs, she attempted to do a 1260, four complete revolutions. She fell trying to do what no woman has done in competition.
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SCREEN CAPTURE Chloe Kim twists and turns during her first run in the snowboard halfpipe competition. |
Later in the day, the 22-year old Chen was nearly perfect in his freestyle long program.
Skating last after three Japanese skaters captured the three top spots, Chen was confident and smooth on the ice, skating to "Rocketman" by Elton John. Chen, the quad king, landed five quads with ease, jumping high and spinning four times before hitting the ice again. No other skater was able to match him Thursday.
"I mean it's a whirlwind right now - everything is happening so fast," a breathless Chen told NBC. "That program is really fun to skate. At the end, I really just had a blast out there. When I finished the last jump, I thought I was pretty close (to the win)."
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SCREEN CAPTURE Figure skater Nathan Chen finishes his gold medal performance. |
After disappointing himself in 2018 when he won a bronze medal in PyongChang, Chen trained for four years with an eye to the 2022 Olympics for the chance to redeem himself. Except for one contest, the Yale student won every competition, enroute to three world championships.
The Beijing Olympics has been special for Chen. His flawless freestyle program Thursday was added to his record-setting short program Tuesday.
"You can't imagine how it feels," he said of his Olympic-winning moment. "This means the world to me. I have the family connection (to Beijing, where his mother was born). It's amazing to have this opportunity to do it here," said Chen.
“That’s ... beyond affirming oneself as American. That’s affirming your whole history.”
EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AAPI perspective, follow me on Twitter @DioknoEd.
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