41-year-old Lindsey Vonn tore her ACL just a week before the Olympics but elected to continue competing. Then, seconds into her first run last Sunday, she suffered a horrific crash that led to her being airlifted to the hospital and ultimately diagnosed with a leg fracture, requiring three separate surgeries to repair the injury.
Despite all of that, Vonn has been following the Games closely over the past six days. On Thursday, she was tuned in to watch snowboarder Chloe Kim, who was aiming to make history by capturing her third consecutive Olympic gold.
Kim, however, fell short of that goal, finishing with a silver medal after being outscored on her third and final run by 17-year-old South Korea’s Gaon Choi, who posted a 90.25. Kim had been leading with an 88.00 going into her final run but fell on the attempt.
Not long after the competition, Vonn sent a four-word message to Kim on her Instagram story, writing, “You’re such a boss,” while tagging Kim and sharing a photo of her holding the silver medal.
This marks Kim’s third Olympic medal at just 25 years old, two of which were gold from previous Games. Despite finishing with silver, she was the first to greet Choi after the competition, showing genuine excitement for the young South Korean star, who earned her country’s first gold medal this winter.
Choi entered the event as the biggest expected threat to dethrone Kim. While the U.S. star delivered a flawless first run, challenging weather conditions affected every snowboarder and ultimately caught up with Kim when it mattered most.