Chloe Kim becomes 1st woman to land 1260 in snowboard halfpipe

Chloe Kim became the first woman to land a 1260 (three and a half full rotations) in a women's snowboard halfpipe competition at the X Games on Saturday.

"Chloe Kim had already landed 'back-to-back 1080s' (three full rotations in the air) in the first run of the final, earning her the highest score of the day with 96.33. By the time the other athletes had completed the third round, she was still in first place, nearly 10 points higher than the second-place score of Mitsuki Ono of the U.S., 87.

On her third run - a victory lap, with her gold medal secured, and usually, athletes don't attempt high skills but celebrate their victory - Kim tried the Cab 1260 (three and a half full rotations) and succeeded. Although the landing wasn't flawless, the spectators and commentators erupted in cheers, seemingly unable to believe what they had witnessed. “I've wanted to do that trick for a long time,” she said. “I wish it were a little cleaner, but I'm stoked that I was able to put it down.”

In 2026, Kim can bid to become the first athlete to secure three consecutive Olympic snowboarding gold medals. Even at 38 years old and now retired, Shaun White, the sole male athlete to clinch three Olympic snowboarding gold medals, couldn't secure the golds consecutively.


Bo-Mi Im bom@donga.com