Chloe Kim Isn’t Chasing Perfect Anymore and That Might Be Why She’s So Good

Chloe Kim may be one of the most decorated snowboarders of her generation, but on Not Skinny But Not Fat, the Olympian proves she’s wildly self-aware, funny as hell, and refreshingly honest about everything that comes with being a celebrated athlete. Yes, that includes Olympic pressure, brutal injuries, and the weird reality of trying to make friends at Princeton when people are asking for photos on the way to class. 

Kim gives host Amanda Hirsch the real stuff. Below, the snowboard icon opens up in her own words about the Olympics, identity, burnout, college, and the kind of love story that starts with a FaceTime from Cabo.

Here are the highlights from the conversation, adapted from the episode.

How did you really feel walking away from the Winter Olympics with silver?

“I mean, good, just good. I mean, I did what I needed to do to come home, feel good, feel sexy. You know, I got my color analysis in Korea last summer, and they actually said that…white gold, like white metals look good on me. So I think they’re right.”

What frustrates you most about how people talk about winning and losing at the Olympics?

“I feel like everyone wants to be so negative. Meanwhile, you’re sitting on your a** hating. You know what I mean? It’s like, being at the Olympics alone is so competitive, like, getting there is so difficult and competitive. I had to win like four events straight to make the team, which I did this season before, and there’s so much pressure, it’s stressful, you know, all everyone’s talking about is the Olympics, like, it gets in your head. When you walk away with any medal, that’s such a big accomplishment, so for that to get diminished is so stupid. Like, who cares? Like there I have a medal. Three people get a medal. I was one of the f**king people.”

How hard was it to compete after your injury?

“I think everyone’s so obsessed with winning…you don’t know my story, like, you don’t know where I was at when I was going into this, you don’t know what I had to go through. I went through some sh*t, you know, like, I got injured, I had this whole plan to train for a month…like at least a month of where I can like lock in and really dial in my run and like work on the new tricks that I learned, like I need time to prep. And I got hurt, and so I literally had no time on snow…So, you know how crazy it would be for me to not practice at all when everyone else is spending the entire winter on snow, months on snow, and I’m going in with my like four days of practice thinking I’m gonna win the damn thing. Like that’s so delusional.”

What actually happened when you got hurt?

“So I was telling my therapist this, but I was like it would have been so much easier if I fell and got hurt doing a trick, cause it’s like part of it, you know, whatever…But like I fell going into the wall to the trick, so I got so freaked out because I’m like, ‘oh my gosh, do I not know how to snowboard?’…Like I landed one jump and then I am going to the next because there’s a little bit of travel in between and I fell going into the next one super weird, dislocated my shoulder…Well, I do need surgery…like, it’s not a bad injury for everyday life, but if I want to do anything athletic, I need surgery.”

What was it like growing up in snowboarding without much money?

“Well, how we could afford it, it’s a great question. Because there are people who will say that I like, literally grew up with a bunch of money, and then I’m a rich kid, not the case at all…[my parents] definitely couldn’t afford the lavish trips and like all the international flights I had to take, but because my mom worked for Korean Air, we got really cheap standby tickets…I’d always be on a standby flight, and I think we’d get them for like 40 bucks…There were times where I’d sleep at the airport cause like we couldn’t get on a flight for a couple, couple days. Which sucked. And it would also suck because I would win, you know, I’d win the event and I’m watching like all the kids I competed against get on their flights and go home. Meanwhile, like I’m at the airport for 3 days…Of course, yeah, I was so embarrassed.”

What did your first major sponsorship mean for your family?

“My first big sponsor was with Monster Energy at 13, I’m still with them, and that contract changed my life… Yeah, it was six figures…I retired my parents when I became a millionaire…I mean, it’s such an honor and a privilege to do that for my parents. Like they took such a big risk on me. And so to be able to get my mom out of a really sh*tty work environment too was awesome.”

Why did you want to go to Princeton?

“I started homeschooling when I was 11 or 12, cause I was traveling so much. I was so busy. And I think as I gained success in my sport, I was losing a sense of self too, because I was homeschooled, like, I only knew people in the industry, I didn’t really have friends outside of it. I was traveling so much, like, it made me a little depressed. Just because I’m really good at something doesn’t take away the humanity in me either. Like, there’s still things that I have to go through that everyone else goes through…and it just felt like…My world became so small…And so, going to college was more for my well-being, I wanted to meet people outside of my sport. I was scared. But I’m so happy I went.”

What was the hardest part of being famous at Princeton?

“Yeah, when I walked in to get my card, my ID, like, all the kids were chanting USA and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is so embarrassing’…it was actually hard the first couple of weeks because people were coming up to me asking for photos and I’m like, I want to be friends with you. Like I don’t want to be this person to like you…people taking videos, pictures of me when I was walking to class, going into the dining hall…The room goes completely silent when I walk in. Everyone has their phones out, everyone’s filming me…And it hurts me because I want to make friends and so it’s like I want to be friends with all of you, but you guys are treating me weird.”

What has it been like dealing with racism as an Asian American athlete?

“Yeah, like I dealt with a lot of racism because there’s no one that looks like me, or there wasn’t back then, unless they were like literally from Asia…Me, on the other hand, it’s like I am Korean, but there’s an American flag next to my name. And, yeah, I got a lot of really mean messages. And I think also growing up in America, I dealt with a lot of microaggressions too, and racist comments made by other people in my everyday life, so I just, again, felt like I didn’t have a safe space…Like you shouldn’t be representing us…Like, why does she get to represent the U.S. when she’s not even from here, which is not true. I was born in Long Beach, California.”

Why did you start approaching snowboarding differently after your first Olympics?

“After my first Olympics, I feel like for me, I kind of was like, ‘All right, I won this thing,’ like, ‘I did it.’ So now I’m kind of gonna do it my way that makes me comfortable, because I was also really unhappy, like training so much, not having a life, like, being depressed…all of it. I love shopping, you know, I love being home. I love the warmth of California, I love my routine there…So after my first Olympics, I was like, ‘I’m not doing that anymore.’ Like I’m just gonna do what I feel like doing, which is taking all of spring and summer off pretty much…So I only do like three or four events instead of eight…It was just good, better for me…It’s that or like I want to stop doing it altogether.”

How did things start with Myles Garrett?

“I was like, ‘I can’t date anymore, I’m done. I’m just gonna be single forever.’ I was being so dramatic. I was like, ‘I’m gonna get a sperm donor, like, I don’t need a man’…And [a friend] was like, ‘Well, what do you want in a guy?’…I was like, ‘Oh, I want somebody that’s tall, handsome, kind, close with their family, and I want somebody that’s equally as successful as me, if not more’…Then [the friend] goes, ‘Oh my gosh, what about Myles?’…’I was like, ‘OK, like I’ll talk to him real quick’…After practice, he texted me. He’s like, ‘Hey, how did it go? It’s Myles.’ And I was like, ‘Do I have really low standards or was that sweet?’…And he’s texted me every day since then.”

Do you think he’s your person?

“Oh yeah, yeah, I mean, it’s so easy with him, like, everything is so easy. You know if you’re around us, we’re always giggling. We have all these inside jokes, we have the same sense of humor, we love the same things, we’re always cracking up, and I found my best friend, and it’s so nice, you know, we like the same things, we travel the same way.”

To hear Chloe Kim’s full conversation, listen to Not Skinny But Not Fat wherever you get your podcasts.

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