[Yonhap Photo]
SEOUL, Feb. 13 (Aju News) -- U.S. snowboarder Chloe Kim said Tuesday it was her family that drove her magnificent gold medal run at the PyeongChang Olympics.
Kim, born to South Korean immigrants in the United States, won the women's halfpipe with a score of 98.25 points at Phoenix Snow Park in PyeongChang, some 180 kilometers east of Seoul. She became the youngest American woman to win gold in a snowboard event.
"I think today I really did it for my family and everything they've done for me," Kim said at a press conference. "I think I'm so grateful for that." Kim has often visited South Korea in the past to meet her relatives and go shopping. When she visited her parents' country to compete at her first Winter Games, what she thought of first was her family.
"When I landed and realized that I've won the first (gold medal), words that came into my mind were mom, dad and family," she said. "I don't know how I'm going to celebrate tonight. When I go home back to the U.S., probably my mom would throw a little party for family and friends."
Kim's relatives, including her grandmother and aunt, were all present to see her gold medal performance. Kim said her third and final run, for which she got her top score, was for her grandmother.
"My grandma has never seen me compete before," she said. "I actually found out after my second run that she was at the bottom, so (I said to myself) this one is for gran. Being able to put that down was awesome. I hope she enjoyed watching it."
(Yonhap)
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
