The Snowboard Champion

 
 

Vocabulary

team	nervous	snowboard
debut	sponsor	prove/proved/proven
focus	medal	worry/worried/worried
air	half-pipe	on your shoulder (2)
half	prodigy	that far (2)
pipe	compete	hit the slopes
cheer	decide	keep going
strong	represent	give it a try
lift (3)	get off	fall/fell/fallen
grab	glimpse	impressive
injured	commute	immigrant
slope	pay off	carry/carried/carried
barely	massive	technically (2)
qualify	rotation	there was a catch
expect	stage (2)	catch/caught/caught
to top	confused	back-to-back
podium	miss out	top the podium
midair	witness	beforehand
poised	in a way	hang on to
ritual	raise (2)	achievement
boost	mammoth	American Dream
chance	overnight	run/ran/ran (3)
proud

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Video

 

 
 
 
 

Transcript

Today’s Olympic Start is sponsored by Folgers, proud sponsor of Team USA.

Reporter One: “And we are back with today’s Olympic Start. At just 17 years old, Chloe Kim is already a superstar in the world of snowboarding, and she proved it during her debut here.

Like most Olympians, Chloe Kim is focused on getting that gold medal.”

Announcer: “A Perfect One-Hundred for Chloe Kim!”

Unlike most Olympians, Chloe is also focused on getting into college.

Reporter One: “So college . . . Olympic Games . . . most kids aren’t worried about anything in this stage of their life. You’ve got a lot on your shoulder.

Chloe Kim, Olympian Snowboarder: “I know, I have a lot to worry about. There are all good problems to have.”

The half-pipe prodigy known for her big air and big smile, first hit the slopes at the age of four.

Jong Jin, Chloe’s Father: “Good job, Chloe. Good job. Keep going Chloe, Keep going, good job.”

The voices behind the camera cheering her name: mom and dad, Jong Jin and Boran Kim, immigrants from South Korea who decided as a family to give snowboarding a try.

Reporter One: “You must have been hanging onto your dad, because he’s a big strong man.”
Chloe Kim, Olympic Snowboarder: “He fell too.”

Jong Jin Kim, Chloe’s Father: “When she was four I was forty-eight. So when I get off the lift, I didn’t know how to get off the lift, so I grabbed her, and we fell together.”

Reporter: “You fell on her?”

Jong Jin Kim: “Yeah I didn’t know how to get off.”

Reporter: “Mom, where you thinking? Could get injured? Were you worried?”

Boran Kim, Chloe’s Mother: “No because she was a very active baby. She has lots of power and she loves that.”

You can glimpse that power in videos filmed at the Kim’s home in Torrance, California. A six-hour drive from their home to Mammoth Mountain.

Reporter: “So at 1:00 am, he put you in the car?”

Chloe Kim: “He’d carry me out of my bed. I was still sleeping.”

The overnight commute paid off. At the age of just thirteen, Chloe started competing with the best in her sport. This time, the voices behind the camera went from barely knowing her name . . .

Announcer: “Take a look. She’s Chloe Kim, or Kim Chloe.”

. . . to likely never forgetting it.

Announcer: “She’s only thirteen, but there she goes — massive!”

Just a few months later, Chloe technically qualified for the 2014 Winter Olympics. But there was just one catch: she was too young; she need to be sixteen to go.

Reporter: “Were you surprised that you qualified?”

Jong Jin Kim, Chloe’s Father: “Yeah, kind of, but we did not expect her to go that far.”

Chloe Kim: “I think we were confused because it was just really fast and really soon.”

While she missed out on the gold in Sochi, Chloe has since topped the podium three times at the X Games. She became the first and only woman to land back-to-back 1080s: three, full, midair rotations.

Announcer: “Ladies and gentlemen, you have just witnessed history.”

The half-pipe star is now poised to win a medal in her parents’ home country of South Korea.

Chloe Kim: “I feel that I can represent both countries in a way because I have a Korean face, but I was born and raised in the States.”

But to mom and dad, it’s an achievement that’s as American as it gets.

Reporter: “Knowing that she’s going to be competing for the United States, your country now, how does that make you feel?”

Jong Jin Kim: “Well we as immigrants like me, we always say it’s the American Dream.”

Reporter: “You’re your dad’s American Dream.”

Reporter Two: “She’s my American Dream. So we decided to make Chloe and her family our Olympic boost today, so I got the chance to watch her opening runs with Chloe’s parents and her sisters.

We had the best time. We all got together on their cheer ritual. They knew beforehand they told me they were really nervous when she’s doing that half-pipe and after her impressive debut, something happened: Chloe couldn’t find her mom, so I just helped get the two together.

*     *     *     *     *     *     *

Questions

1. Chloe has only one goal: to become a snowboarding champion. Yes or no? What are Chloe’s goals and ambitions?

2. She got into snowboarding from her friends at school. True or false? Did she start snowboarding as a teenager?

3. Was her father an expert, professional snowboarder when she started snowboarding?

4. Her mother was very worried about Chloe. Is this right or wrong?

5. The Pyeongchang Winter Olympics is the second time Chloe competed in the Olympics. Is this correct or incorrect? Why didn’t she compete in the Sochi Olympics?

6. Has she competed in major snowboarding tournaments? What happened?

7. How does Chloe’s father feel about her winning an Olympic gold medal? What did he say?

 
 

A. I have snowboarded. Snowboarding is my hobby. Yes or no? Do you know anyone who snowboards? Is snowboarding a popular sport? Where do people snowboard? Has it become more popular?

B. Do you have Olympic or sports heroes? What athletes do you admire?

C. I would like to participate in the Olympics. Yes or no? Which sport would you like to perform? What is your favorite Olympic sport?

D. Do immigrants or children of immigrants tend to be successful (in your country or abroad)?

E. What happens to sports stars and champions after they retire?