LIVIGNO, Italy — While the snow blanketed the late-evening sky deep in the Italian Alps, and one after another, the best female snowboarders on the planet kept slipping, skidding and crashing out, Chloe Kim wrestled with her shot at history.

American Chloe Kim began her quest for an unprecedented third-consecutive gold medal with mesmerizing runs Wednesday in Olympic halfpipe qualifiers.

American Chloe Kim had a chance to become the first snowboarder to win three straight golds at the Olympics, a feat not even Shaun White accomplished, but came up short.

LIVIGNO, Italy (AP) — Some might say the seeds of an Olympic-sized surprise in snowboarding were planted a month ago. That’s when Chloe Kim went skittering down a halfpipe in Switzerland, smashing her shoulder and turning her run for a third straight gold medal into a less-than-perfect scramble.

The 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics are in full swing, and it’s another busy day in Italy, with medal more medals on the line Thursday. The headliner is two-time gold medalist Chloe Kim looking to add more hardware to Team USA’s haul.