Chloe Kim's Olympic Three-Peat in Doubt After 'Silliest' Fall Dislocates Shoulder

American snowboarding icon Chloe Kim has sparked fears for her 2026 Winter Olympic campaign after revealing she dislocated her shoulder during a routine training session in Switzerland this week.

The 25-year-old two-time Olympic gold medallist and undisputed queen of the halfpipe is the athlete at the centre of the injury scare. Kim suffered a dislocated shoulder during what she described as the 'silliest fall' while practising at a world-class facility.

The injury was confirmed after Kim shared a video on social media showing her landing a jump cleanly but losing her edge shortly afterwards, causing her to tumble face-first into the snow and skitter across the halfpipe floor.

The accident occurred earlier this week during her training. The news was made public on Thursday, 8 January 2026, just a month before the opening of the Winter Games.

The incident took place in Laax, Switzerland, a premier destination where the world's elite snowboarders have gathered for the LAAX Open, a crucial pre-Olympic tune-up event scheduled for next weekend.

The injury has placed a significant question mark over Kim's ability to defend her title at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. If she competes and wins, she would become the first female action-sports athlete to achieve a 'three-peat', winning three consecutive gold medals in the same event. While Kim remains 'optimistic' and noted that she still has a full range of motion, the timing is precarious.

An MRI scan is expected to provide the definitive verdict on whether she requires surgery or if a rapid rehabilitation programme can get her to Italy in time for the qualifying rounds on 11 February.

A Recurring Setback for the Halfpipe Queen

This is not the first time Kim has faced physical adversity during the 2025–26 season. In December 2025, she was forced to withdraw from the final of the Toyota US Grand Prix at Copper Mountain, Colorado, after hurting her shoulder during warm-ups.

While that initial injury was not deemed serious at the time, the fact that the same joint has now 'popped out' again in Switzerland suggests a lingering instability that could be a concern for a sport that requires such high-velocity landings.

'The positive thing is, I have range, I'm not in that much pain,' Kim told her followers in an emotional Instagram video. 'I just don't want it to keep popping out, which has happened.'

The athlete admitted she 'doesn't have much clarity now' regarding her Olympic status and has been riding through 'waves of emotions.'

For a competitor who has reshaped the sport with her back-to-back 1080s and the first-ever 1260 landed by a woman at the 2024 Winter Games, the prospect of being sidelined by a 'routine' crash is a bitter pill to swallow.

The Stakes of Milan-Cortina 2026

Since her breakout performance as a teenager in PyeongChang 2018, she has been the face of international snowboarding. Her dominance is such that she often competes in a league of her own; however, the physical demands of her 'new repertoire' of tricks, which she was perfecting for Italy, leave zero room for a compromised upper body.

Kim faces stiff competition from a rising field of international talent. Without Kim at 100 per cent, the women's halfpipe becomes an entirely different, and far more unpredictable, contest. The US Ski & Snowboard team has yet to announce an official replacement, as they, like the rest of the sporting world, await the results of an MRI to see whether their leading lady can undergo a 'miracle recovery.'

Looking Ahead to Qualifying

Even if Kim is cleared to ride, she will likely enter the Games without having completed a full competitive final this season, a lack of 'match fitness' that could prove costly. Nevertheless, her track record of performing under immense pressure remains her greatest asset.

For now, Kim is focused on rest and 'chilling' while her medical team determines the next steps. As she joked in her post-injury update, 'p.s. I think I am getting old.' Whether she is 'old' or simply unlucky, the next few days will decide if one of the greatest stories in Olympic history will have its final, golden chapter in Milan, or if it will end in the snowy clinics of Switzerland.