Since American snowboarding superstar Chloe Kim won her second Olympic gold medal at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, she’s kept up her dominant ways. She won back-to-back X Games gold medals, in 2024 and 2025, plus the 2025 World Championship, her third world title. 

In December, Kim set aside a few minutes to talk to TIME about expectations for the Milano Cortina Olympics, why she took a mental-health break and went to therapy after Beijing, and her pets. She’s had a whirlwind couple of days, taking a red-eye flight from Los Angeles to Cleveland to surprise her boyfriend, Browns defensive lineman Myles Garrett, for his game against the Buffalo Bills, then flying back the next morning to continue her prep for Italy.

“I sleep really well on planes,” says Kim, whose Olympic halfpipe final—appointment viewing—takes place on Feb. 12. “So I actually feel very rested.”

(This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity). 

What's the state of Chloe Kim these days?

I have no complaints. I'm happier than ever. People are always asking me how I'm preparing for the Olympics. I like to just keep things the same. Consistency is the key here. So no stress on my end.

Why are you happier than ever? 

I've just been doing my thing. I've really just been enjoying finding my routine. What else? I think there's been a lot of fun new additions into my life. I got a horse a couple years ago. I just got a pet snake. My dog is so spirited, even though she's 9. So I just feel like everyone in my life is doing well, and everything's looking really good. So I have nothing to worry about.

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I’ve got to ask about the horse and the pet snake. What kind of horse is it? Do you ride it a lot?

He's an Arabian. He's very sweet. He's a chestnut. He's just such a cutie patootie. I used to board him near my house, but I ended up moving him, actually, back to the people I got him from. They had moved from Arizona to Temecula. So I have him there. I rode him quite a bit when I first got him, but I got a pretty young horse, so he was a bit unpredictable. So when I got a bit closer to this season, I decided to not ride him as much. So nothing stupid happens.

I'm sure your coaches and agent and sponsors appreciate that.

Yeah, my trainer was like, “You are absolutely not riding that horse until you're done with the Olympics.”

And the pet snake, how did you get him or her and what is his or her name? What kind of snake is it?

Her name is Jelly Bean. She's a ball python. I actually got her from my friend. She came over with a bunch of baby snakes and was kind of telling me that she was rehoming them. She had gotten them from someone who didn’t want them anymore. I never thought I'd get a snake. But I felt little Jelly Bean, and I was like, “Oh my gosh, I feel this connection with this snake.” Which is like the craziest thing ever.

Where do you keep the snake?

She's in this massive enclosure, in this tank.

In your house? 

Yes. 

Has it ever escaped from its big enclosure? 

Yeah, she has gotten out, but they typically will just go to another dark, warm area. So I found her right under her enclosure.

More news that your agent, sponsors, and fans are happy to hear.

Yes. 

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In the past, we’ve talked about the struggles you faced after winning your first gold medal in PyeongChang when you were 17. You won a second snowboarding gold medal at the Beijing Games— and had a tough time mentally after those Games too. What was difficult for you about that time? 

Beijing was just challenging in itself. It was during COVID. It wasn't like the most ideal circumstances. Family couldn't be there. Friends couldn't be there. No one could be there. By the time I came back home, I had already kind of experienced all the waves of emotion, and I spiraled into another depression. It's really hard to describe and explain. We are so focused on this one thing for such an extended period of time. When it's over, it's very strange.

Kim celebrates after winning the gold medal in the women's halfpipe at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. Corbis via Getty Images—2018 Tim Clayton

You have mentioned doing intensive therapy after those Olympics. How did that help you get to a place where you’re now happier than ever?

There was just a lot of unresolved trauma that I was dealing with. There was just a lot that I was holding on to. So it was nice to kind of let it out. You kind of have to go back to the root of all the things. The reason why I wanted to go to therapy initially was because I didn't necessarily like the person I was becoming. I didn't like the way I started treating people, the way I viewed some of my relationships. I just felt a little ashamed of who I'd become. That's such a terrible feeling, especially when I should feel like I'm on top of the world. ​​The way I've been able to support and show up for people I care about, that kind of started to go away after a while. And I didn't like that.

How were you treating people? 

I felt so judged since I was young, and I dealt with so much criticism growing up that I think I started to project that onto others for no reason. That's something I'm still working on actively. I think that I have become so much happier once I started to also create space for myself and set boundaries and say no to a lot of things.

I love playing video games. I love just hanging and chilling with my friends, cooking with friends, watching movies with friends. I already travel so much for my sport and have other obligations that when I would come home and I had more stuff to do, whether it would be shoots or endorsements or whatever, I had such little time for myself. And that's what made me such an angry person.

You’ve accomplished so much in your sport. You’re already the only female snowboarder to ever win back-to-back Olympic gold medals in the halfpipe. What keeps you coming back?

There’s so much more I want to do. And I’ll be honest, I really didn’t like my performance in Beijing. I didn't think I did a good job. And I'm very appreciative of the judges for thinking I did OK. I did have a really good run and it makes sense that I won that event. But also, I wouldn't have been surprised if I didn't.  

I'm really happy with the way that I'm riding. I'm really happy that I decided to keep going for it and seeing how far I could go. Last season, I landed a double cork for the first time in competition. [A double cork is two off-axis flips combined with spins. It’s a complex aerial maneuver.] That was a trick that I never thought I'd be able to do. It's kind of surreal being able to do those things. I thought I had completely maxed out. Turns out I didn't. There's so much that I could still achieve and do. Those are some of the reasons why I keep coming back. I keep surprising myself.

So is the goal this time to win without any doubt? What's your ideal performance in Italy?

I don't think I'm thinking about winning so much. Not to humblebrag, but I'm quite satisfied with the two golds that I have already. There's so much amazing emerging talent, it'll just be such an honor to compete with the next generation. I just want to be satisfied with the way I'm riding. I just wasn't satisfied in Beijing. I never want to feel that again. I hate that feeling. It felt terrible. I'm looking at my gold medal, and I feel like I don't deserve it because I didn't do a good job.

Kim competes in the women's halfpipe final during the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Buttermilk Ski Resort in Aspen, Colo., on Feb. 1, 2025. Getty Images—2025 Getty Images

Do you still feel that way when you look at it?

I'm not like, “Oh my gosh, I'm amazing.” My first gold medal, I was like, “Oh my gosh, this is so cool. I really earned this.” I don't have the same feelings towards the second one. So I'm hoping that going into my third, regardless of the outcome, I can just look back and be really proud of myself.

You’re only 25, but do you feel different aches and pains that you might not have felt when you were 17 going into the PyeongChang Olympics? 

I feel pain now. When I was like 17, I would take the most disgusting fall and be totally fine and just get back up and do it again. Even the fall I took in Copper [Kim injured herself before a competition at Copper Mountain, in Colorado, in mid-December and sat it out], if I did that at 17, I probably would have been fine. But now it's, “Oh, man, I don't think my shoulder was at a good angle for it to hit that way. And my ribs are sore.” Yeah, I feel like I got hit by a truck.

Have you been to Italy before? 

I went once to go shopping. I think it was right after PyeongChang. That was as crazy as I got over there.

So this will be your first time competing in Italy? 

I mean, I was competing with the other people in the store for a purse.

What about Italy are you most looking forward to experiencing? 

Italian cuisine is one of my favorite foods. I love pizza, pasta, I love all of that. So I think I'll be eating good out there. That's for sure.

Do you like red wine, the Italian wines? Or do you stay away from that stuff? 

I don't know if that's where my youth is showing, but I'm not a big wine person yet.

A few weeks back, in late November, you and your boyfriend, Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett, shared a kiss in front of the cameras before a game. You and he had made a few public appearances, but that moment sort of officially confirmed that the two of you were dating. Did you guys plan on intentionally going public that day? Or did it sort of just happen?

I’ve never really been in a public relationship. So I think I've always been a little scared of it. But I did not know that that was going to happen. I think it was a really sweet thing. No one's mad about it. Which is a good start. I don't think we were trying super hard to keep it private. But it wasn't something we wanted to blast publicly.

We just did our thing. We didn't really think too much about it, but now that it's out, it's whatever. Nothing is going to change. We're very happy. We're just going to keep supporting each other. 

You were just in Cleveland for one of his games. What is that experience like? 

He was so surprised. That was my first time successfully surprising him. Me and his mom were scheming for a couple of weeks. So it was really fun, awesome to see it all come to life. I wasn't necessarily a football fan before, but now I'm all about it. And, man, the fans in Cleveland are so wonderful. They're just so supportive, and they love it. It's always fun to be around that type of energy.

Is he planning on coming to Italy? The Browns can’t make the Super Bowl, to be fair. 

Yes. He’s planning to come. Now it's his turn to support me. I’ve been there for him all fall and some of winter. Now it's his turn. [Laughs].

Well, he could do worse than going to an Italian resort town in February, though I heard it will be cold.

I just bought him some snow boots, which was a challenge in itself, to find a men's size-16 snow boot. But I managed to do it.

When it comes to these specific Olympics, what are you most excited about? 

A lot of things. I love Italy, I love the culture, I love the food. I think it'll be really nice to be in that environment. I'm also staying with my family this time around. I think that'll be really fun. And I feel really chill going into it. I know what to expect now going into my third Games. So I feel really good. 

Any new tricks we should expect?

I do have a couple new tricks up my sleeve that I won't be sharing. That's never going to change. So you'll have to tune in to see them.