Snowboard
Chloe Kim knows a thing or two about dealing with pressure.
Ever since the American qualified for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics as a 13-year-old - but was prevented from competing due to her young age - big things were expected from the snowboarder.
She delivered upon that expectation by winning two Winter Youth Olympic Games gold medals at Lillehammer in 2016, followed by Winter Olympics gold at PyeongChang 2018. But those successes led to even more pressure being put on her to deliver.
Speaking on Kevin Hart’s “Cold As Balls” show, Kim revealed that sometimes the intense spotlight she was under took its toll on her mental health.
"A lot of people expect certain things out of athletes, but at the end of the day I just need to be grateful that I was able to go [to the Olympics in PyeongChang],” she said.
“Some days I just can’t do it, I can’t figure it out," Kim added.
"People are starting to become more accepting and also talking about these [mental health] issues more. It makes me feel really comfortable going into the [Beijing 2022] Games.
“Do you know the amount of times that I had an off day and didn’t even make the podium or didn’t win like everyone expects me too… but then my really good friend will go and win the damn contest and that’s sick,” she said, smiling.
After winning the halfpipe World Championships in 2019 and 2021 Kim, who has taken time out from her studies at Princeton University in order to concentrate on snowboarding, is the favourite to defend her Winter Olympic title at Beijing 2022.
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