Snowboarder Chloe Kim says she’s “good to go” for Milan Cortina Olympics despite tearing labrum in her shoulder during a training run last week in Switzerland.
Now it’s a race against time to see if she can prepare for a competition that starts in less than a month.
The winner of the last two Olympic gold medals in the halfpipe posted an update on Instagram on Tuesday, she said she wasn’t surprised to learn she had torn her labrum — the lining of the socket that holds the shoulder together. She did not say which shoulder she injured when she fell during preparations for this weekend’s Laax Open.
“There are two ways to do it, and the way I did it is less severe than the other, so I’m very happy with that,” she said. “Obviously I’m very disappointed that I won’t be able to snowboard until right before the Olympics, which will be difficult. I didn’t get nearly the number of reps I would have liked, but that’s OK.”
The Olympic women’s halfpipe competition starts on February 11.
Kim, 25, who has already qualified for the US team, would be the heavy favorite to win in Italy if she is fully healthy. She said she will not compete in Laax this weekend. She made no mention of the Winter X Games later this month in Aspen, the last major competition before the Olympics.
Kim has only competed in one competition this season – last month at Copper Mountain – and she also suffered a shoulder injury during the warm-up for the finals there.
Last week she posted a video of her fall in Switzerland, showing her shooting down the halfpipe after losing her orientation while landing from a jump. She then said she had dislocated the shoulder and wasn’t in that much pain. An MRI last Friday revealed the labral tear.
In her video, Kim said she has to wear a “super sexy shoulder brace” that is not comfortable.
“I’ve been through a lot of different waves of emotions, but honestly, I’m really excited about this week,” she said.
The end of the video flashed as she picked up her boyfriend, Cleveland Browns defenseman Myles Garrett, at a train station.
“I’m so grateful to be able to do this even though the lows can be pretty low,” Kim wrote in the post that accompanied her video. “Excited for a week of discoveries!”
