UPDATE — 1/15/26 at 12:26 p.m. ET: Team USA snowboarder Chloe Kim says she is “good to go” for the 2026 Winter Olympics despite suffering a torn labrum earlier this month.
Kim, 25, updated fans in a video via Instagram on Tuesday, January 13, where she revealed her diagnosis.
“The bad news is that I tore my labrum,” she said. “I’m not surprised by that, but it’s official. The good news…I guess there are two different ways to do it and the way I did it is less severe than the other, so I’m really happy about that.”
Kim continued, “Obviously I’m really disappointed that I can’t snowboard until right before the Olympics, which is going to be hard. I haven’t gotten nearly the amount of reps that I would have liked, but that’s ok.”
But the lack of reps won’t keep her out of the Milano Cortina games, with women’s snowboarding set to get underway on February 8.
“I am so grateful that I will be good to go for the Olympics,” Kim said. “I get to wear this really sexy shoulder brace, which I should be wearing right now. It’s really uncomfortable.”
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Team USA snowboarder Chloe Kim has won the last two Olympic gold medals in the women’s snowboard halfpipe, but her three-peat hopes are in jeopardy, according to a video she posted via Instagram.
“I hate that I have to make this video,” an emotional Kim, 25, told her followers on Thursday, January 8. “But I felt that it was necessary, so here we go. I’ve been here for a couple of days. I’m currently in Switzerland and on my second day of training, I took the silliest fall.”
Her video then cut to footage of Kim on the halfpipe, wiping out as she nears the top of the ramp before sliding all the way back down.
“That ultimately resulted in me dislocating my shoulder,” she revealed. “I think I don’t have much clarity right now because I haven’t gotten an MRI yet, but that’s scheduled for tomorrow.”
Kim said that when she gets her MRI, she will have a better idea of her recovery timeline. But with the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy only a month away, her status for the biggest stage in sports is now in doubt.
“I’m not in that much pain,” she continued. “Obviously, I just don’t want it to keep popping out, which has happened. So yeah, just trying to stay really optimistic.”
She also assured followers that she is ready to continue training as soon as she is medically able.
“I feel really good about where my snowboarding is at right now, so I know that the minute I get cleared and I’m good to go, I should be fine,” Kim said. “I’m just hoping that doesn’t take too long.”
She concluded, “But I’m going to be chilling the next little while, so if you have any recs on how I should kill all this time that I have, please let me know.”
In the caption of her video, Kim shed some more light on her emotions as the disappointment of her setback is still raw.
“Trying to stay positive through these moments so difficult,” she wrote. “I have gone through so many waves of emotions I literally have a migraine. The only thing I can do is rest/do everything in my power to come back as soon as possible. thank you all for supporting me on this wild journey! will keep you posted 🙂 p.s I think I am getting old.”
As news of Kim’s injury began to spread, other Olympians started sharing their support in her comments.
“Hey Chloe, if you see this know that it’s not over until it’s over! 👊🏻,” British Olympic cyclist Charlotte Worthington wrote. ”I dislocated my shoulder 6 weeks before Tokyo Olympics, I thought my dream was over, but it was a blessing in disguise… after hard rehab it forced me to narrow my focus to what tricks I really needed to dial in, I ended up winning. I hope this helps 🩷🙂↕️ you got this, and thanks for being inspiring 🔥”
German skier Sabrina Cakmakli added, “noooo I‘m so sorry to hear ❤️🩹 heal up quick queen! Wishing you the speediest recovery ✨.”
Snowboarder Louie Vito, who has represented the United States and Italy in the Olympics, wrote, “Rest up. You will be good. A lil pain and soreness but nothing you haven’t ridden through before.”
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