Welcome to your go-to guide to the 2026 Winter Olympics. We’re tracking everything—from real-life heated rivalries (yes, they exist) to under-the-radar sports and surprise standouts—so you can catch up on all of our coverage in one place.
American snowboarding phenom Chloe Kim is one of the top athletes to watch in the 2026 Winter Games, which kicked off last week in northern Italy. On Wednesday, when Kim competes in the women’s halfpipe—the event she won gold in at the last two Olympic Winter Games—her trip down the mountain this time around will be a little different. Kim will be wearing a shoulder brace after dislocating the joint during training last month.
“I hate that I have to make this video, but I just felt that it was necessary,” Kim said in an Instagram video on January 8, announcing the injury. She explained that while training in Switzerland, she “took the silliest fall,” which caused her shoulder to dislocate (meaning, the top of the upper arm bone popped out of the shoulder socket). Five days later, Kim posted an update on Instagram, sharing in a new video that she got an MRI. The results, she said, revealed that she tore her labrum, the cartilage that lines the socket of the shoulder joint.
Because of the injury, Kim said she would have to take a break from snowboarding. But, she added, she “will be good to go for the Olympics.” Her first event will be the qualifying round of the women’s halfpipe on February 11. The halfpipe final is February 12.
To better understand Kim’s injury—and how it might impact her upcoming performance—we tapped Kevin Stone, MD, an orthopedic surgeon and a former physician for the US Ski Team.
So what exactly happened to Kim’s shoulder?
When Kim fell, she landed on her face with her arms up over her head. (Scope footage of the fall here, about 20 seconds into the video.)
That impact drove the ball of the humerus (upper arm bone) out of the shoulder socket. In other words, her shoulder dislocated. And that dislocation tore the labrum, which is the tissue that surrounds the socket and attaches it to the bone. This type of injury, Dr. Stone tells SELF, is “very common.”
Most often, people tear their labrums when the humerus fully or partially comes out of the socket. But this injury can also happen from general wear and tear as a person ages.
How are torn labrums usually diagnosed and treated?
The labrum helps keep the humerus in place, so when people dislocate their shoulder, they automatically tear or damage the labrum too, Dr. Stone says. Shoulder dislocation is diagnosed by taking a patient’s history and doing a physical exam, Dr. Stone says—but usually it’s pretty obvious just by looking at it.
