Chloe Kim wins ESPY's 'female athlete of the year' award, then shows her rapping skills

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Snowboarder Chloe Kim accepts the trophy as Female Athlete of the Year.

CHLOE KIM is not about to forget the year 2018 during which she won a gold medal at the Winter Olympics, she turned 18, got accepted at Princeton. Last night, she was named Female Athlete of the Year at the ESPY's.

The California teenager earned the honor Wednesday evening (July 18) during ESPN's annual award show in Los Angeles honoring the year's best athletes and sports moments.

Besides winning the top award for women, Kim was also was picked as the Best Female Olympian and Best Female Action Sports.

"This year has been filled with so many incredible memories I will hold onto the rest of my life," Kim said as she held the silver trophy. "I really want to thank my family. They've sacrificed so much for me."

She traded in her teenage attire for a new grown-up glamorous look at the ESPY's wearing an18k gold diamond Cuban choker, with 24 carats in diamonds and weighing 300 grams in gold. Oh, and we're told it's valued at $40,000. The gold matched her hair whic she had dyed blond and contrasted with her black, off the shoulder dress.

At the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Kim dominated the women's halfpipe finals, taking home a gold medal for Team USA. Her exuberant personality shone through her use of social media making her accessible to a wider audience beyond the sports world, winning the internet's heart with her relatable tweets about breakfast sandwiches, ice cream and her love for her parents.

Besides earning the spotlight at the Olympics, she also took gold in the SuperPipe at the X Games in Aspen.

After the awards ceremony she attended the official awards after-party at L.A. Live ... and like she does on the half-pipe, Kim didn't even hesitate when Young Gerald asked her to rap Cardi B's verse on his hit, "No Limit." She knew all the words -- even the x-rated ones.

Needless to say, she would have won another gold medal for her rapping stint. Naturally, she crushed it.

UPDATED, July 17, 3:25 p.m. to include after party.

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2018 Winter Olympics: Final thoughts on the Asian American athletes

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Figure skater Karen Chen, center, poses with Alex and Maia Shibutani.

THE SIGHT of so many Asian/American athletes representing the United States at the Olympics should have an impact for years to come.

Hopefully, Americans and mainstream media learned some lessons along the way to PyongChang, South Korea where the Olympics were held this last two weeks.

The view of what an "American" looks like took a hit but not without creating a few "opps" moments by those reporting on the Olympics. 

The winter sports athletes are still overwhelmingly white but this year, there are signs that  Team USA is inching towards diversity. Nonwhite athletes (11 black Olympians and 12 Asian/American Olympians) account for just under 9 percent of the American team, There are also 108 women, about 45 percent of the team and two openly gay malle athletes, according to team data. That might not sound like much but it's a great improvement from four years ago.

That might not wound like much, but it is still an improvement over past teams and should be noted as a step forward, no matter how small.

Winter sports have been dominated by European countries where most of the sports originated. That tradition and the fact that the cost and isolated locations of the venues have further separated the sports from much of America. 

“I think it sends out a strong message when there is a team that has a good cross-section of ethnicities,” Elana Meyers Taylor, a 2014 Olympic silver medalist in bobsled, told USA TODAY. “If there is a child watching and they don’t see anyone that looks like them, it creates a little mental barrier.”

Seeing the Asian/American skaters and snowboarders during the Winter Olympics will inspire some young people to compete in those sports.

Mirai Nagasu right after she did her history-making triple axel.

When figure skater Mirai Nagasu did her historic triple axel, something no other American female skater has ever done, New York Times writer Bari Weiss couldn't help but celebrate on Twitter. Retweeting a video of Nagasu’s jump, Weiss wrote in a now-deleted tweet: “Immigrants: They get the job done.”

People were quick to point out that the 18-year old was born and raised in California, a child of immigrants. Critics said that Weiss  was falling into the trap of most Americans by "othering" Nagasu because Asian/Americans are seen as perpetual foreigners, no matter how many generations they are removed from their immigrant ancestors.

Nagasu was also central to mini-controversy when she finished her long program in figure skating, an even where she finished a disappointing 10th. She gave a press conference in which she said some comments that were interpreted as belittling her teammates when competing in skating's team competition.

“I would like to be on Dancing With the Stars because I want to be a star,” Nagasu, who stuck her triple axel in the team event, said. “I made history here by landing the first triple axel for a U.S. lady at the Olympics so I think that is a big deal. I hope I get more opportunities to let my personality just shine.

“It’s been a long three weeks, and we got here and got to walk in the opening ceremonies and then I saved the team event, with Adam (Rippon) and the Shibutanis,” Nagasu said. “We were about to lose our medals so today I put my medal in my pocket and said ‘Mirai you have done your job already and this is all just icing.’

Later, she apologized profusely in a People magazine interview.

“I feel really, really awful about the things I said,” she said though tears, according to People. “I feel bad that people think that I was throwing my teammates under the bus because I never wanted to come off that way.

Apparent free spirits Filipino/American snowboarder Hailey Langland and Korean/American gold medal winner Chloe Kim, both 17, reminded everyone what it is like to be an American teenager enjoyed good press for their back stories and accomplishments.

Although Langland failed to qualify for a medal, the experience prepared her for the upcoming World Championships and she's young enough to get ready for the 2012 Olympics in Beijing, China as she noted in her Twitter account"

haileylanglandMy 2018 #Olympics journey is officially over. So happy to have come out to Pyeongchang and competed with the best girls in the biz. Another huge thanks to all my friends, family, and sponsors who supported me. Maybe I will be lucky enough to return in 4 years for some redemption. 

Hailey's pal Chloe Kim has exploded onto the American consciousness with her gold medal run in the halfpipe snowboarding competition. She's on the cover of Sports Illustrated and was interviewed on the Jimmy KImmel show.

RELATED:

• Shib Sibs skate to a bronze 
• Chloe Kim emerges as a star; breaks down stereotypes
• Speed skaters hopes melt on ice
• 12 Asian American athletes represent the United States 

Except for speedskater JR Celski and ice dancer Madison Chock, both of whom are in their mid-20s, all the other Asian/American athletes are all so young including, ice dance bronze medalists Alex and Maia Shibutani, figure skater Karen Chen, 18, 17 men's figure skaters Nathan Chen, 18, and Vincent Zhou, 17 should be contending for a medal, speedskaters Aaron Tran, 17 and Thomas Hong, 20. They all could possibly return along with Kim, Langland and Nagasu four years from now in Beijing.

Tran posted on Instagram:

• aarontran96My first Winter Olympic Games, Pyeongchang 2018, has been a life-changing experience for me in such an enormous number of ways. It has opened many doors for me and I will use this opportunity to propel myself forward and to best set myself up to become the best I can be, mentally and physically, in the next Games to come! #pyeongchang2018#TeamUSA #beijing2022

Team USA's efforts to get the best athletes to compete in the winter sports means the sports federations will have to reach out to the rest of America. America in turn, may have to change their definition of what an "American" looks like.

Representation does matter. Many of the Asian/American skaters on today's team say they were inspired by seeing Tai Babilonia, Kristi Yamaguchi, Michelle Kwan and Apolo Ono compete on the ice.

"Seeing someone like you who's accomplishing things that you aspire to, means a lot," says Yaamaguchi, whose own role model was Tiffany Chin, who skated in the 1984 Olympics.

Somewhere in the U.S., there may be a young girl or boy who watched the 12 Asian/American Olympians, who said to himself, "Hey, that could be me."

CORRECTION: Earlier versions of this post confused a lutz with an axel.
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2018 Winter Olympics: Snowboarder Chloe Kim a real star; breaks down stereotype,

Sports Illustrated features Chloe Kim and her dog on its cover.

CALIFORNIA TEEN Chloe Kim has emerged from the Winter Olympics as one of the Games' genuine stars. As people tend to say these days, she's gone viral. 

That means, a lot of businesses will be knocking on her door for endorsements. Her youth and upbeat personality makes her a marketer's dream.

Along the way, her dazzling flips in the halfpipe and enthusiasm, the 17-year old from Torrance, helped shatter some images of what Asian American girls/women should act like.

Throw out that demure, subservient, quiet stereotype attributed to Asian women. Chloe, the daughter of Korean/American immigrants, is a typical American teenager who craves ice cream and churros in the midst of the most important event of her life.

She also shows an appreciation for her immigrant parents. "Watching my family work so hard has been so inspirational, and I think I really got their work ethic."


A few days after she won her gold medal for her performance in the snowboarding half-pipe, she landed the cover of Sports Illustrated.

She's also at ease in the spotlight. At a press conference after her half-pipe feat, she was cracking jokes. She dedicated her last run to her Korean grandmother, and she teased her father. “My dad didn’t cry at all, which I don’t get,” the snowboarder said. “I’m like: What are you doing?”

Her guest appearance on the Jimmy Fallon show showed. Her effervescent personality shone through as she and host Fallon photo-bombed several unsuspecting tourists.

Fallon also revealed to Chloe that she got her image placed on the Kellogs Cornflakes cereal box, an honor reserved for athletic champions.

"It is so crazy to see myself on a box of Kellogg's cereal," said Kim. "Winning a Gold Medal is a dream come true and commemorating it with a Gold Medal Edition Corn Flakes box makes it even more special. This is all so exciting!"

According to a Kellogs news release, boxes of the cereal disappeared quickly, as they were available in limited quantities for a short time, and only to members on KelloggsFamilyRewards.com.

A message posted to KelloggsFamilyRewards.com currently confirms her special-edition box is "out of stock."
Chloe's bubbly personality, her athletic feats and her prowess on social media makes her superstar beyond the Olympics for years to come, or, at least until the next Olympics in 2022 that will be held in China.

She has experienced one of the greatest rises in Olympic athlete social media history, says ESPN. Since winning gold, her Twitter following has risen from fewer than 15,000 followers to 287,000. Her Instagram following went from 160,000 before the Games to 650,000, meaning she's halfway in followers to America's most valuable Winter Olympian, Lindsey Vonn (1.3 million).

The teenage snowboarder came into these Olympic games with deals with Nike, Burton and Oakley from when she turned pro at 13, as well as Toyota, Visa, Mondelez (Ritz and Oreo), Samsung, Monster Energy and Amore Pacific’s Laneige, according to ESPN.

Usually top Olympians sign long-term deals that span from one Olympics to the next. But Chloe’s father, Jong Jin, wanted Chloe to have more control over her deals once she turns 18, a wish adhered to by her agent, Lowell Taub of CAA. That means when Kim turns 18 on April 23, all of her deals will be on the table.

Advertisers shouldn't think they're dealing with a naive, little girl. In an interview with CNBC, she shows that she's given her new found fame and future some serious thought. 

"It's so much more than just a contract. I genuinely only want to work with people that I agree with on certain things," she continued. "There were many sponsors I didn't want to work with because I didn't agree with their messages that they wanted to use me to convey."

Barring injury, Chloe can compete in three more Olympics and still be younger than the Shaun White, who won gold in the men's half-pipe a week ago. Watch out world!

(UPDATED: Feb. 25, 2 p.m. to include Kim's Kellogs cereal box is out of stock.)  ________________________________________________________________________

2018 Winter Olympics: Shib Sibs skate to a bronze in ice dancing

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Maia and Alex Shibutani after winning their bronze medals in ice dance.

THE BROTHER-SISTER team of Alex and Maia Shibutani came up big Monday (Feb. 19) to win a bronze medal in the ice dancing competition of the Olympics.

The Shib Sibs, as they are known on social media, were thrilled with their performance, beaming as they finished. The judges agreed, giving them a score of 192.59, a combined total of Sunday's short program of 77.73 and today's free skate score of 114.86. For a brief moment, that was enough to vault the Japanese/American siblings into first place.

In the past, Alex, 26, and Maia, 23, have felt they were scored too low by international judges, That included Monday’s crisp short program.

The Shibutani's first-place position was short-lived however as France's Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron skated a beautiful, elegant program scored 123.35, the highest score of the night to take over the top spot when combined with their short program score of 81.93.

RELATED: Asian/American skaters dominate U.S. championships

But even their high score was not enough as Canada's team of of favorites Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, skating last, scored enough to recapture first place with a total score of 206.07.

The other two U.S. teams of Madison Chock and Evan Bates and the duo of Zachary Donohue and Madison Hubbell, suffered mishaps during their routines, hurting their chances to medal.

The Shibutani's, who surprised everyone when they finished in the top ten in Sochi four years ago, achieved their goal of being on the podium in PyeongChang, South Korea. The brother and sister medal winners, who skate out of Ann Arbor, Michigan, are still young enough to take part in the 2022 Olympics in China.

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The Shibutani siblings gave credit to their parents, who were able to sitness their medal-winning performance.

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2018 Winter Olympics: Nathan Chen dazzles with six quads but falls short of a medal

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Nathan Chen finally delivers.

WHERE HAS HE BEEN? The Nathan Chen we were expecting to see finally showed up today (Feb. 16) with an unprecedented six quadruple jumps in his skating routine.

His dazzling performance that had the audience cheering and gasping, almost pulled off the impossible, coming from 17th place to almost medaling. With his record score of 215.08 points, Chen actually won the long program segment of the men's figure skating and held the bronze medal position until the last two skaters performed strong enough to edge out Chen;s quad attack.

“I definitely did want to redeem myself after the two short programs and I think I did here,” said Chen, who had come into Gangneung Ice Arena undefeated and as a medal favorite.

Chen, 18, had also struggled skating his short program in the figure skating team event, in which Team USA won the bronze medal.

Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan became the first male skater since Dick Button of Team USA in 1948 and 1952 to win back-to-back Olympic titles. Hanyu finished with an Olympic record total of 317.85, followed by teammate Shoma Uno, who edged Javier Fernandez of Spain, 306.90 to 305.24.

Chen finished in fifth place with a total score of 297.35 points. 

Vincent Zhou, the youngest member of Team USA at age 17, was sixth with 276.69 while 28-year-old Adam Rippon was 10th (259.36). All three Team USA skaters finished in the top 10 for the 15th time in Olympic history.

Chen, who last year became the first skater to land five quads in a program, had originally planned five for his free skate Saturday. 

RELATED: Figure skater Zhou flies; Chen falls

But after his two disastrous short programs, in which he made mistakes on his jumps and scored in the low 80s -- about 20 points lower than expected -- Chen decided he was going to show he truly was the “Quad King."

“It was sort of an anger thing,” he said. “I was just like, ‘Oh screw it, I’m going to try it. At this point I have literally nothing to lose. I’ll just go for it. And then I was like, ‘Well I can’t think about that right now. I can’t dwell on it. I’ll readjust in the morning, rethink about it.”

He said it was too early in the morning to try all the quads. His even gave his coach, Rafael Arutunian, a surprise when he threw in the sixth quad.

“That was me,” Chen said. “I didn’t even tell him I was doing that.”

Five of the six quads were clean, as Chen put his hand down on a quad flip, his extra jump. 

“I’m glad I was able to show myself and show everyone else that I can bounce back from a bad performance,” he said. “And honestly, I am human, I make mistakes. Unfortunately I had been having a really bad time. But I’m really happy with what I did here.”

Chen will have four years to mull over what might have been. He'll only be 22 years old when the next Olympics convene in China. 

Chen will have to be careful. His teammate Zhou surprised everyone with his Olympic performance.

The U.S. could very well have two medal finishers four years from now. 

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2018 Winter Olympics: Figure skater Zhou flies, Chen falls

Wow! Watch American skater Vincent Zhou do his  quadruple lutz.

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VINCENT ZHOU of San Jose, Calif. became the first skater Thursday night to land a quadruple lutz at an Olympics.

You can watch his performance at SF Gate.

He scored an 84.53 and placed 12th in the preliminary competition going into the finals.

Zhou, 17, says he is pleased with his performance, but knows he can do better.

Patrick Chan of Canada is in sixth place, but 14 points behind third place finisher Shoma Uno of Japan.

Meanwhile, America’s best hope for a gold medal in the men’s competition had a rough night. Nathan Chen slipped once and fell twice.

He is currently in 17th place. He told reporters he made every mistake possible.

His showing follows another poor skate during the team competition.

However, Team USA held on to win a bronze medal.

The men's figure skating finals continue tonight, which NBC will live stream at 8 p.m. ET, 5 p.m. Pacific.
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2018 Winter Olympics: Speed skaters' medal hopes melt on the ice

JR Celski: 'I gave it my best shot'

THE RACE for a medal in Olympic speed skating for men has gone ice cold.

The AAPI men's speed skaters JR Celski, Aaron Tran and Thomas Hong had early exits in their respective races.

For Celski, 27, it could be the Filipino/American's last chance for another Olympic medal after he finished last in the preliminaries for the 1,000-meter short track.

An hour later, the third-ranked U.S. men's team failed to qualify in the 5,000-meter relay.

“I’m disappointed,” Celski said. “To come out here and not be able to compete for a medal is really disappointing.”

A three-time Olympian, Celski is also a three-time medal winner after earning silver in the 5,000-meter relay in the 2014 Olympics in Sochi and bronze in both the relay and 1,500-meter individual event in Vancouver’s 2010 Winter Games. He was ranked 18th in the world for the 1,000-meter event entering the Olympics and seventh in the world for the 1,500 meters. But he failed to advance past the qualifying heats for either event.

“I gave it my best shot, and I just came up short,” he told the Seattle Times.

Aaron Tran, 21, also fell short of qualifying even though he did better than Celski, giving the U.S. hope in future Olympics. Tran has another chance when he headlines the American contingent in the 500-meter sprint event Feb. 22. Hong will also race in the 500.

The men's speed skating disappointing results were shared throughout the entire team. John-Henry Kruegger, considered America's best hope for a medal, did not qualify either.
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2018 Winter Olympics: Chloe Kim fulfills high expectations, captures gold

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American Chloe Kim celebrates her Olympic victory.

WHATEVER  Chloe Kim is eating, I want some!

The 17-year old Californian won a gold medal in the snowboard half-pipe Tuesday (Feb. 12). While waiting to compete, she tweeted that she regretted she didn't finish her breakfast sandwich because she was "hangry." For those unfamiliar with the term, "hangry" is a mashup of hungry + angry.

In the qualifying rounds yesterday, she tweeted that she liked the churros and was looking forward to some ice cream.

RELATED:  

• 'Eat churros!' advises Chloe Kim
• 12 AAPI athletes on Team USA 

The kid from Southern California, the center of skateboard culture, was just about to reach the pinnacle of her sport when she looked down from atop of the halpipe run.  With members of her parents, three sisters, three aunts, two cousins and her South Korean grandmother cheering her on, Kim put on a show that surpassed all expectations.

Chloe put up a score of 93.75 on the first of her three finals runs. As it turns out, that score was enough to win the gold. On her second run, she tried to do a double 1080, a maneuver that she was the first woman to do, but she couldn't quite pull it off. 

On her third run, she already knew she had won the gold medal so she didn't need to push it. She went for it anyway and was able to nail her signature double 1080. She scored 98.75 - close to perfection.

After Chloe's third run, she found her family and finally allowed herself to let the tears flow, her hunger pangs forgotten.

Watch Chloe's almost perfect run:

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2018 Winter Olympics: 'Eat churros,' says teenager snowboarder Chloe Kim

ESPN Magazine recently featured Chloe Kim on its cover.

CHLOE KIM actually qualified for the Olympic team in 2014 but at age 13, she was too young for the competition.

Now, at the ripe old age of 17, she is the heavy gold medal favorite in snowboard half-pipe;  nabbed Visa as one of her primary sponsors,[ NBC did a commercial on her to promote their coverage of the Winter Games in PyongChang, South Korea; and she made the cover of ESPN Magazine (See above.).

She also revealed what she does to conquer the nervousness that accompanies the competition. She snacks!

"It's very special," Kim told CNN. "I feel like I have this unique opportunity to represent both Korea and the U.S.

"I definitely have a lot of Korean/American fans which is amazing," Kim tells CNN.

"I think my family are just so excited," she adds. "My grandma is in Korea. I have two aunts and three cousins in Korea as well.

"Everyone's really happy and I think this is the best scenario ever. At the end of the day, I'm so grateful that I get to be out here and represent the US in the country that my family came from. It's a very big blessing."

On the eve of a possible Olympic gold, looking back on her journey, she gives tribute to her father, Jong Jin Kim, who immigrated from Korea in 1982.

Born in Long Beach, Chloe started snowboarding before most kids learn to read. At age 4 she began taking the two-three hour trips to Mammoth Mountain ski resorts with her father, where, together, they learned to navigate the slopes and the competition.

In Monday's (Feb. 11, PST) qualifying round for the Olympic medal, Chloe was dominant in the qualifying round. She put down the two highest scoring runs of the day — a 91.50 on her first run, then a 95.50 on her second run, four points more than the next closest rival.

She will go into the medal round tonight (Feb. 12, PST) as a prohibitive favorite. So, eat churros!

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2018 Winter Olympics: Mirai Nagasu jumps into history

After her performance, American skater Mirai Nagasu let out a scream of joy.

HISTORY was made when Mirai Nagasu did what no other American woman has done before.

Nagasu, 24, became the first U.S. female figure skater — and third woman ever — to nail a triple axel during an Olympic competition.

Only two other female skaters have been able to do that jump in Olympic competition - Midori Ito of Japan landed the jump in 1992 and another Japanese skater, Mao Asada, repeated the feat in Vancouver in 2010.

The Californian was competing in the women’s free skate in the team event when she landed the difficult jump. Nagasu received a score of 137.53 for the routine — a personal best.  

"I don't know if you could tell -- it was more something I could feel -- but to nail it the way I did, even out of the corner of my eye I could see my teammates standing out of excitement," Nagasu said to the Associated Press. "And at that moment I wanted to stop the music and get off, but I still had my whole program ahead of me, and to complete the performance to the best of my ability is really exciting."

Her performance helped the U.S. figure skating team to a bronze medal behind Canada and the Olympians from Russia.

In 2014, she was third in the national championships but was left off the team when the U.S. Figure Skating Federation chose fourth-place finisher Ashley Wagner, based on her overall season's performance.

Watch her historic performance below: 

With the team competition out of the way, the skaters will be concentrating on their individual events. Nagasu will join the U.S.'s Karen Chen and Bradie Tennel to compete in the women's individual event.

Despite her historic jump, Nagasu finished behind Alana Zageteva of Russia, who had -- by far -- the highest score among the women's figure skaters in the team competition.

CORRECTION: Early versions of this post misspelled Marai Nagasu's name.

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2018 Winter Olympics: Californian skating for South Korea averts wardrobe malfunction

Despite a wardrobe malfunction, the South Korean team continued with their routine.

YURA MIN almost had a Janet Jackson moment during her performance at the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.
Skating for Team South Korea, one of clasps that secured her costume came undone in the middle of her performance with partner, another American, Alexander Gamelin. Both skaters have dual citizenships.

"Five seconds into the routine, my hook came undone," Min said, via the Detroit Free Press. "I was like, ‘Oh no!’ If that comes undone, the whole thing could just pop off. I was terrified the entire program."

"I didn’t stop," Min said. "I went from the beginning to the end. I didn’t stop because you get a deduction if you stop in the middle of a program. In my head, I was thinking, ‘Is it better to stop and fix it and get the deduction or keep going?’

"The fans kept cheering. Obviously, this is my first Olympics. I don’t want to let loose. I was terrified. I tried my best to keep it together." In more ways than one.

Americans Yura Min and Alexander Gamelin competed for South Korea.

Both of Min’s parents emigrated from South Korea before she was born in Torrance, Calif. “I was American when I went to school but I was raised in a very Korean household,” Min said. “My mom always raised me, like, ‘You are Korean. You have to learn Korean and know Korean culture.

She managed to keep her outfit in place to finish the pair's routine. At one point, she had to stop her twizzle (dual twirls) to pull up her top and that may have affected the final score. The American South Koreans finished ninth out of the 10 teams.

The pair will return in the dance skating competition and you can bet there will be extra clasps on Min's costume.

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2018 Winter Olympics: Romance blossoms on the ice

Long-time ice dance partners Evan Bates and Madison Chock confess to their close relationship off the ice.

ASAM NEWS

THE CHEMISTRY displayed in the rink by ice dancing veterans Madison Chock and Evan Bates is now more real than ever.

The pair has skated together since 2011, but told Inside Edition they have been officially dating since last year.

“We were always having a blast and we were laughing all the time and just enjoying our time together,” Chock, 25, said. “I think that friendship and that base was what sort of led to the romance.”

The Chinese/Hawaiian said the two actually had their first date at age 16, but called that “puppy love.” At that time, the two were not skating together.

Years later, their simmering romance is real.

“Well, I pretty much told Maddie that I loved her,” Bates, 28, said to Today. “Last year I told (her) how I really felt and that changed things a lot.”

The two also share their love for their two puppies, Stella and Henry. Henry belongs to Chock. Stella is Bates’ pup.

“The first time I brought my dog to the rink, he jumped right on the ice no hesitation! He just was curious and wanted to check it out” Chock explained to US.

Bates said Henry is just the opposite.

” My dog Stella is probably the opposite – the polar opposite,” he said. “She doesn’t mingle well with others, she doesn’t do ice skating. She’s a sofa dweller.”

Chock and Bates placed third at the U.S. National Finals in January. This is their second Olympics together.

“I think it certainly helps, that kind of experience is invaluable,’’ Chock said to The Oakland Press. “The Olympics were an event like none other, the experience will serve us well.’’
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2018 Winter Olympics: He's back! Tonga's shirtless athlete 'represents'

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Shirtless Pita Taufatofua braved the below-freezing temperatures to march in the 2018 Winter Games opening ceremonies representing the Pacific island nation of Tonga.

IF ONLY they gave Gold Medals for dramatic entrances.

Tonga's Pita Taufatofua, who was an internet sensation and gained lots of adoring fans for marching shirtless in the 2016 Summer Games in Brazil, showing off his well-oiled , muscular torso, did it again.

At the Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea, in below-freezing temperatures, he went shirtless again as the lone entry of the tropical island nation of Tonga.

In Brazil, he competed in tae kwon-do but he was eliminated after the first round.

RELATED: 

• 12 Asian/Americans on Team USA 
• Filipino/American skier represents the Philippines

In South Korea, he may not be a serious contender in his event of cross-country skiing, but he did qualify for the event in world-wide competition.

From Pita, himself, on his Twitter account, he said, "This is for anyone that ever had a dream ... #andWasTold "you can't," #YouCan.

Judging by the online reaction to his dramatic entrance in the opening ceremonies, Taufatofua is already a winner.

He should at least get a media from the Tongan Tourism Office.

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