Chloe Kim keeps her feet as fierce as her flips—missing two toenails, she glues on Gel-X extensions every month because 30-foot air and triple-cork training rip nails clean off.
Super-Gs, triple corks, and back-to-back 1080s have made Chloe Kim the face of women’s halfpipe, but the 25-year-old revealed the less-glamorous collateral damage in Women’s Health: she is “missing two toenails right now” and schedules monthly mani-pedis to replace them with Gel-X extensions.
The Price of Flight: Toenails vs. 30-Foot Air
Landings from heights that scrape the rafters of the halfpipe compress toes against boots already cinched for ankle support. Add repetitive impact on a 22-foot wall and nails simply give up. Kim’s solution—Gel-X tips cut to toe-nail size—lasts until the next big crash. “They come out all the time,” she laughed, recalling the moment “my big toenail came out” on a trans-Atlantic flight. “I just threw it in the seat.”
Beauty Routine as Performance Tool
Kim isn’t chasing runway points; she’s weaponizing confidence. A fresh set—currently a neutral gel with micro-glitter—signals control in a sport where wind, ice, and judges constantly rewrite the script. The ritual also forces downtime: 60 minutes off her feet equals 60 minutes of mental reset before she straps in for cab 1260 drills that torque her shoulder enough to dislocate a joint weeks before the Games.
History on the Line in Cortina
When the 2026 Winter Games open next month, Kim will attempt what no woman has done in snowboard halfpipe: three consecutive Olympic golds. She won in PyeongChang at 17 and again in Beijing at 21; Cortina offers the three-peat.
Kim’s Halfpipe Resume
- 2018 PyeongChang: Gold, youngest woman to win Olympic snowboarding gold (17)
- 2022 Beijing: Gold, first woman to land back-to-back 1080s in an Olympic run
- 2025 World Cup season: Two first-place finishes, entered Cortina as top qualifier
- Signature tricks: Method Air, Frontside 1080, Cab 1260, back-to-back 1080s
From Shoulder Labrum to Full Send
A “silly fall” in early January tore Kim’s shoulder labrum, sidelining her from on-snow reps. Instagram updates insist she’s “good to go,” but limited training means she’ll enter Cortina with fewer wall hits than rivals. The toenail routine, ironically, is one health protocol she can still control while rehabbing.
Why Fans Should Care
Kim’s transparency flips the script on athlete perfection. Missing toenails, mid-flight nail ejections, and seat-back disposal humanize a competitor who routinely soars higher than most NBA rim-grazers. If she lands a three-peat while literally gluing herself together between runs, the moment transcends snowboarding—it becomes a masterclass in managing micro-damage on the biggest stage.
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