Chloe Kim announced that she will not be participating in the 2022-2023 season, citing mental health reasons, according to CNN.
Kim, now 22, became the youngest woman to achieve an Olympics gold in snowboarding when she was just 17-years-old in the 2018 Winter Games.
Kim also took a long hiatus after the 2018 Winter Games, where she stated she experienced an “emotional spiral,” Huffpost reports. During her last break, Kim attended Princeton University and studied anthropology. Kim stated that the new environment was “refreshing” and helped her find separation in her life as a pro-athlete.
“It was nice to know I can make friends with people that weren’t snowboarders or in the industry,” Kim said, in an interview with Cheddar News. “It’s just nice to have that separation and to get away from the thought of working.”
Kim announced that she still plans to compete in the 2026 Winter Olympics hosted in Italy, The Blast reports.
“I just want to enjoy this moment, take it all in and then get back to it when I’m feeling ready,” Kim told Cheddar News. “But as of now, the plan is most definitely to go after a third medal.”
In the past, Kim has been very open about her struggles with mental health and handling fame.
“I appreciate that everyone loves and supports me, but I just wish people could understand what I was going through up to that point,” Kim said in an interview with TIME in February. “Everyone was like, ‘I just met her, and she’s such a b—-.’ I’m not a b—-. I just had the most exhausting two months of my life, and the minute I get home I’m getting hassled.”
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