Petra Vlhova, Chloe Kim, Eileen Gu: Where are these Youth Olympic champions now

Topping the Olympic podium is a feeling athletes don’t want to wait too long to repeat.

That was the case for snow queens Petra Vlhova, Chloe Kim, and Eileen Gu who made a smooth transition from Youth Olympic to Olympic champions.

Olympics.com looks back at the journeys of these star Youth Olympians as the newest generation of sports talent prepares to follow in their path at the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games.

Petra Vlhova: The original Winter Youth Olympic superstar

The Youth Olympic Games are a treasure trove for sports scouts and fans nowadays.

One person to credit for that is Slovakia's alpine skier Petra Vlhova, who became a champion at the inaugural Winter Youth Olympic Games edition.

Vlhova won the slalom event at Innsbruck 2012 and returned to the top of the Olympic podium at Beijing 2022. Claiming gold in slalom, she did so with plenty of grit, coming back from eighth place after the first run to deliver a blazing second ski that knocked reigning world champion Katharina Liensberger down to the silver medal position.

With this feat, Vlhova became the first Slovak alpine skier to win an Olympic medal.

And there has been no slowing down for the Youth Olympic and Olympic champion since. The five-time Crystal Globe winner has won six World Cup races after Beijing 2022 and finished among the medallists 19 times. That includes seven podium finishes in the 2023-2024 season so far.

Chloe Kim: The halfpipe history maker

From the moment Chloe Kim first strapped on a snowboard at age four, it was obvious there was something special about this California girl.

Her debut at the Winter Youth Olympic Games at Lillehammer 2016 was much anticipated and Kim did not disappoint, winning two gold medals, in halfpipe and slopestyle.

Two years later, at age 17, she repeated the feat at PyeongChang 2018 and thus became the youngest female snowboarder to win an Olympic gold medal.

Kim's historic run did not end there. Another four years later, at Beijing 2022, she became the first two-time Olympic female halfpipe champion in snowboard.

She also holds the distinction of being the first athlete to win halfpipe titles across the Youth Olympics, Olympics, world championships, and X Games.

While Kim has taken a break since competing at Beijing, she is set to return to competition at the Laax Open in Switzerland this month. The halfpipe competition at Gangwon 2024 takes places on 19 and 20 January.

Eileen Gu: The future of freestyle

Before Eileen Gu became a symbol and face of Beijing 2022, she was the breakout star at Lausanne 2020.

The university physics student and freestyle skier is someone who loves precision. And that goes for her medal collection as well. Her track record at Lausanne 2020 perfectly matched what she later delivered at the home Games in Beijing: gold in Big Air and halfpipe, and silver in slopestyle.

Gu is the first Olympic rookie to win a medal in all three events she competed in and the youngest Olympic champion in freestyle skiing.

The Chinese star continued to dominate the World Cup circuit after Beijing 2022 with two wins in Calgary at the start of the 2022-23 season, but was forced to take a step back from competition in January 2023 after getting injured in training for the X Games.

This time off, during which Gu studied at Stanford University and walked the runways at Milan Fashion Week, did not diminish any of her competitive edge and she returned to competition in December 2023 with back-to-back halfpipe wins at the World Cup in Secret Garden and Copper Mountain.

In a nod to her glittering beginning, Gu remains part of the Youth Olympic Games scene this month as the Global Ambassador for Gangwon 2024 as she shares her inspirational journey with the next generation of athletes.