Chloe Kim became the first woman to land a 1260 in a snowboard halfpipe competition, winning her sixth X Games Aspen title in her first appearance there since 2021.
She threw a cab 1260 at the end of her third and last run of finals, though she put her hands down on the landing. It was a victory lap as she already clinched the win with an earlier score.
“I really wanted to do that trick for a long time,” she said on the broadcast. “I wish it was a little cleaner, but I’m really stoked that I was able to put it down.”
She tied Kelly Clark’s record number of X Games Aspen titles in the event.
Kim, 23, returned to competition this month for the first time since repeating as Olympic gold medalist in February 2022.
She placed fourth in her first event back last week, falling on both finals runs.
Kim unsuccessfully tried a 1260 at the 2022 Olympics but previously landed it in practice.
She is expected to compete next weekend at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Mammoth Mountain, California, her home resort. NBC Sports will air coverage.
.@ChloeKim wins her 7th #XGames SuperPipe gold, tying her mentor Kelly Clark for most in the discipline. In her victory lap, she became the first woman to land a 1260 in a women's snowboard superpipe competition. #XGamesAspen@MonsterEnergy pic.twitter.com/v4yVvcUSam
— X Games (@XGames) January 27, 2024
Back in October, Kim returned to halfpipe training for the first time since the 2022 Olympics. At a camp in Switzerland, she became the first woman to land a 1440 in training, her coach said.
In 2026, Kim can bid to become the first woman to win three Olympic snowboarding gold medals. Shaun White is the lone man to win three Olympic snowboarding gold medals.
South Korean Gaon Choi, who last year at age 14 broke Kim’s record as the youngest X Games champion in the event, is out with a back injury, according to South Korean media.
Also Friday, Americans Troy Podmilsak and Alex Hall went one-two in ski big air.
Podmilsak, 19, overtook Hall, the Olympic slopestyle gold medalist, with a triple cork 2160, the same trick Podmilsak landed to win last season’s world title.
Australian Scotty James three-peated in men’s snowboard halfpipe ahead of Japan’s Ruka Hirano and Kaishu Hirano. James, an Olympic silver and bronze medalist, landed a 1440 and a pair of 1260s in his winning 93-point run, according to commentators.
Olympic gold medalist Ayumu Hirano of Japan was eighth in the eight-man field.
Brit Mia Brookes won snowboard slopestyle, one week after turning 17 and 11 months after becoming the youngest world champion in any individual snowboard event.
Brookes’ three runs were the three highest scores of the competition, capped by landing a 1440. At worlds last year, she became the first woman to land a 1440 in a slopestyle contest.
Absent were the two women who combined to win all three Olympic gold medals in the event.
American Jamie Anderson was on site carrying 10-month-old daughter Misty. She is expected to return to competition later and bid for a fourth Olympics in 2026.
New Zealand’s Zoi Sadowski-Synnott was also on site but didn’t compete after fracturing an ankle at a competition last month.
The X Games continue Saturday, highlighted by Olympic gold medalist Eileen Gu of China in ski halfpipe.