Chloe Kim and Shaun White are entered in next week’s Laax Open in Switzerland, which would end the longest absence from snowboard contests of each rider’s career, though White is unsure whether he will compete.
Olympic Channel airs live halfpipe coverage on Jan. 23 at noon ET.
Kim, who in PyeongChang became the youngest Olympic halfpipe gold medalist at age 17, last competed at the March 2019 Burton U.S. Open. She broke an ankle, finished second to countrywoman Maddie Mastro and then took the 2019-20 season off for freshman classes at Princeton.
“I’m excited to get back. I’m a little nervous, but I’ve been training, and everything’s been going really well, so I’m feeling pretty confident,” Kim, who before this break competed every year since age 8, said Tuesday. “I’m just eager.
“Laax always has the most perfect kind of pipe, and it’s like one of the best places to put runs together, even learn tricks.”
White, a 34-year-old bidding to become the oldest Olympic snowboarding champion, hasn’t competed on snow since winning a third Olympic title in PyeongChang in February 2018.
He switched to skateboarding in 2019, then last year called off a Tokyo Games bid in the new Summer Olympic sport.
White was unsure if he will compete at Laax, a U.S. Ski and Snowboard spokesperson said Thursday, though he is listed as entered in a star-studded field that also includes reigning Winter X Games and world champion Scotty James of Australia.
The most recent entry list was posted Monday.
White and Kim were both expected to return at last month’s World Cup stop in Copper Mountain, Colo., but the event was called off amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The X Games in Aspen are one week after the Laax Open. Kim is committed to the event. White, who last competed there in 2017, was also among the invitees.
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