Being seventeen has its highs and its lows. The highs? Solo dance parties in your bedroom, getting coffee with friends, finding out you have less school work than you thought you did. The lows? Learning how to deal with unsupportive friends and people who try to rain on your parade. Except when youāre Olympic snowboarder Chloe Kim, you can also add being on top of a mountain and a podium to the list of highs. Everything else stays pretty much the same.
Obviously,Ā Kim is not your average high school student. As a world-classĀ athlete, sheās pretty much the paragon of badasseryāand sheās a role model for people all around the world who aspire to reach her level of skill, work ethic and determination. She first learned how to snowboard at age four and began competing at age six. She competes on the halfpipe, which is arguably one of the most exhilarating events to watch (let alone participate in) in all of professional sports.
So, like, bow down. Just a little bit.
In 2014, Kim was too young to compete in the Sochi Olympics, but that didnāt stop her from medaling at the X Games. In fact, in 2016, she became the first person under the age of sixteen to earn three gold medals at the X Games. She and Shaun White are the only two people ever to score a perfect 100 points at the U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix. This year, Kim is finally representing Team USA at the 2018 Winter Olympics āand we couldnāt be more excited to watch her compete.
Ever wonder what goes on in the head of an elite athlete? Well, Her Campus had the chance to speakĀ with Kim about everything from her training schedule and finishing high schoolĀ to her Instagram aesthetic:
Her Campus: What are you most looking forward to in the 2018 Olympics?
Chloe Kim: I think Iām just really excited to go experience the Olympics. I feel like itās every athletes dream to represent a country, so I feel very blessed and honored to go and compete for the US. I think it will be an amazing experience.
HC: What does your daily training schedule look like?
Kim: I usually wake up, get some breakfast, get dressed, maybe have a little dance session, listen to music on my Samsung. Then I head up to the mountain and start riding. I usually ride for a few hours, take a break, then ride for a little longer and head home. If Iām feeling extra that day, I might go to the gym, but I havenāt been in awhile.
HC: What do you do in the non-snowy months?
Kim:Ā Ā We usually travel down south, like New Zealand, and we have a couple training sessions there because itās winter down there. So we definitely are chasing snow, but I like to take a little time off of snowboarding, just to give my body a little break. During those months off, I usually am in the gym. I partially tore my ACL a few years ago, so Iām just making sure itās all good and my leg stays strong.
HC: As a top-tier athlete, how often do you get to step out and relax and enjoy your social life? When do you do your school work?Ā
Kim: Itās pretty hard to go hang out with friends back home, but most of my friends are snowboarders, so that makes it really easy on my social life. I just snowboard, and then when weāre done, we all hang out and get some food, go bowling, coffee, whatever. Itās not too bad. I think my parents were a little worried because I stopped going to an actual public school when I was thirteen and I started getting homeschooled. I think they were a little concerned, but I met so many amazing friends from snowboarding. Iām living a pretty normal life, just on the mountain.
When it comes to schoolwork, I just get it online. My teachers are pretty flexible. I finished high school early. I did my junior year and senior year last year, and I went through the whole year and didnāt take the summer off. I actually had a meeting with my teachersĀ [Thursday, January 18, 2018] because I thought I had one more elective, but it turns out Iām done. I was kind of expecting to have more school to do, but they were like, āYouāre done. We donāt know else to tell you. Youāre graduating.ā It was definitely pretty surprising, I was pretty hype.
HC: What is it like competing and doing all the incredible tricks that you do? Do you ever get nervous?
Kim: Yeah, I get nervous all the time. Iām always nervous. But I think nerves are good. I kind of freak out when I donāt get nervous. I think I get nervous because I want to do the best that I can and Iām constantly pushing myself. Iām pretty hard on myself, Iām a self-critic. Iāll watch a video and everyoneās like, āOh my gosh, that was great!ā And Iām like, āWell, my handās in a weird place and I donāt like it. Iām gonna do it again.ā Iām kind of a perfectionist so I get a little freaked out when somethingās not going perfectly. I think thatās why I push myself, because I want to make sure everythingās perfect, and I wonāt leave until itās perfect.
HC: As a badass athlete whoās doing big things, how do you handle the people who doubt you and look down on you?
Kim: Itās pretty hard because I want to block them out, but itās really hard to. Itās pretty impossible because itās always up in your face, and nowadays with social media itās pretty easy to see what people say about you. Itās definitely pretty hard, but I always try to stay positive and I have such an amazing group of people around me and I have an amazing team and awesome friends who are always there supporting me, so they make it very easy to just forget about it and move forward. I donāt really think about the hate too much. Iāve learned to disregard it a little better, but there are times when itās still hard. I think if you get hate, it means youāre going on the right path. I kind of use that as motivation. If they hate me for being a snowboarder, or being who I am, it means Iām doing something right.
HC: Tell me about your Samsung partnership and why you wanted to be a member of Team Galaxy?
Kim: Oh my gosh, I love working with Samsung. I actually did my first shoot with them in New Zealand, and it was really awesome. We went horseback riding and my dad fell off of his horse and it was the funniest thing ever. He was fine. I was a little scared but he got back up and everyone was laughing really hard and I couldnāt stop laughing. So that was awesome, and then they brought us up on helicopters and we went heli-boarding for the first time. Samsung is so fun to work with. Theyāre always sending me really cool gadgets that Iāve never seen before. I got a virtual reality headset with a 360 camera, so you can film something and send it over to your virtual reality headset and you can basically see everything you just recorded, which I think is so cool. Itās pretty cool. Iām pretty happy working with them.
HC: What are your favorite features on your Samsung Galaxy S8?
Kim: Iām pretty down with Bixby. Sheās my homie. Itās easy to access her, just touch the button on the side, and sheās like, ‘Hey, whatās up?’Ā Also, this phone takes amazing photos. My momās always like, ‘Chloe, take a picture of this, take a picture of that,’Ā and Iām like, ‘Mom. My storage.’Ā We always take hundreds and hundreds of photos and I have a lot of awesome memories on my phone and I canāt wait to make more.
HC: Speaking of which, your Instagram aesthetic is perfect. Which apps do you use to edit your photos?
Kim: I actually donāt edit my photos. Sometimes, if itās a little blurry, Iāll do it on the Instagram app and brighten it a little, but I havenāt really edited my photos before. I wouldnāt know what to do. My Samsung just takes amazing photos and you donāt really need to do anything. You just take them and then youāre set, youāre good to go.
HC: What is your advice to high school and college students everywhere who have lofty goals like your own?
Kim: Work hard and donāt let the haters get you. āCause they hateāwait what is it, they hate us ācause they aināt us? Just go in with the mindset that you have good people around you supporting you, and just know that those people are more important than those who want to give you a bad day and rain on your parade. So block out the haters, have fun, stay true to yourself, and love what you do.
I know IĀ will definitely be taking Kimās advice to heartāand weāll be cheering loudly when we watch her on TV during the 2018 Winter Olympic games. The womenās half-pipe qualifiers begin on Feb. 10 at 11:30 pm EST, and we canāt wait to see her kill it. You go girl!