You’d be forgiven for disbelieving the smile on Chloe Kim’s face Thursday night in Livigno, Italy, after she finished with a silver medal in the women’s Olympic halfpipe snowboarding finals. Kim’s victories at the Olympics are typically inevitable. And after she finished first in qualifying earlier in the week, it seemed she had shaken the effects of the dislocated left shoulder she suffered back in early January. Winners refuse to accept second place, right? [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] But upon further review, Kim’s jubilant reception of the silver medal at the Milano Cortina Games made all kinds of sense. In fact, this hardware may wind up meaning more to her than the golds she took home from PyeongChang in 2018 and Beijing four years ago. “Absolutely,” says Kim. “I mean, a month ago, I wasn’t even sure if I would be here. I could get emotional thinking about it. I really worked hard to get here. So this metal means so much.” Following the competition, she walked down a snowy hill at the Livigno Snow Park halfpipe venue, hand-in-hand with her boyfriend, Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns, the NFL’s reigning defensive player of the year, who stood with Kim’s family and friends at the bottom of the halfpipe, snapping photos of Kim in action. “Exciting but terrifying,” Garrett said, about watching Kim contort her body in the air on a snowboard. She’s got reason to be happy, personally and professionally. The new Olympic gold medalist, Goan Choi of South Korea, is…
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