By Lisa Richwine
LIVIGNO, Italy, Feb 11 (Reuters) - American snowboarder Chloe Kim cruised into the halfpipe finals at the Milano Cortina Winter Games on Wednesday, showing off high-altitude tricks to easily lead the field as she moved a step closer to claiming a third straight gold medal.
Kim, one of the greatest snowboarders in history, burst into a broad smile when she finished an impressive first run on the sun-drenched Alpine slopes of Livigno.
The 25-year-old showed no signs that she was bothered by a shoulder injury a month ago. She outpaced competitors by a healthy margin with a score of 90.25.
Her closest rival, Sara Shimizu of Japan, finished at 87.50.
On her second run, Kim tried bigger tricks and wobbled on a couple of landings, but it did not matter because of her comfortable lead from round one. Only the best of two runs counted at the end.
The halfpipe features riders sliding across a 22-foot-tall, U-shaped ramp and performing acrobatic manoeuvres in the air. Kim took halfpipe gold in Pyeongchang in 2018 and at Beijing 2022.
No snowboarder - not even men's great Shaun White - has won three consecutive gold medals at the Olympics.
Kim has been a strong favourite to win the halfpipe, but a mishap during a training run in Switzerland forced her to stay off her board for two weeks in the run-up to the Games. On Monday, Kim said her injured shoulder was feeling good and she would compete with the aid of a brace.
Queralt Castellet Ibanez of Spain, the 2022 silver medallist, made it through to the finals, as did reigning bronze medallist Sena Tomita of Japan.
Chinese rider Liu Jiayu, a 2018 silver medallist competing in her fifth Olympics, crashed on the second run and was carried off the course on a stretcher by medical staff.
Americans Bea Kim and Maddie Mastro also advanced.
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine Editing by Christian Radnedge)
