PYEONGCHANG: Chloe Kim is the California beach girl with the bubblegum smile and bleach-blonde hair who shredded to Olympic snowboarding gold — and became the twinkly-eyed face of the Pyeongchang Games.
The bubbly 17-year-old with Korean parents and a mischievous wit triggered ‘Chloe-mania’ as swooning locals adopted her as one of their own in the absence of a truly transcendent athlete such as retired figure skater Kim Yuna.
With Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi” playing in her earphones, Kim set a blistering pace in Tuesday’s halfpipe final, storming to gold with a charm and grace that will leave a lasting impression long after the Olympic flame has gone out.
“There are plenty of examples of people who transcend their sport — one big example in Chloe’s own sport: Shaun White — the comparisons between the two are uncanny,” Elizabeth Lindsey, of LA-based marketing agency Wasserman, told AFP.
Tales of how Kim’s biggest fan — her Seoul-based grandmother — boasts about Chloe’s exploits over tea to her fellow church-goers melted hearts.
Proud dad, Jong Jin Kim, went viral after he was spotted waving a hand-made sign which read “Go, Chloe!”
There were also constant reminders that despite her fame and rapidly growing fortune, the American sensation is a typical teenager.
After qualifying, Kim craved ice cream — vanilla Swiss almond, or at a push a mango sorbet. Once the final ended, the munchies struck again.
“I’d really like a burger and some fries,” said Kim, puffing out her cheeks. “Or some Hawaiian pizza.”
“I was tearing up, I wanted to cry,” admitted the four-time X Games champion, who was so good at 13 she might have won gold in Sochi.
Two years under the minimum age requirement then, fate decreed she would get her chance in Pyeongchang, meaning grandma could cheer her on for the first time.
“It’s so good doing it in front of my parents,” said Kim, the first woman to nail back-to-back 1080 degree spins at the Games.
Online reaction to Kim’s success in South Korea was largely positive, some likening her effortless brilliance to Kim Yuna, who won figure skating gold at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
Others noted Kim would be cramming for college entrance exams had she grown up in Seoul instead of California, while a small minority blasted local media for trying to claim the athlete as “Korean”.
Nike, Toyota, and Visa are among companies that already sponsor Kim, and her marketing appeal is set to explode.
“She was definitely a name going into the Olympics, and now she’s an even bigger one,” said Lindsey.
Kim, whose followers on Instagram and Twitter doubled to 500,000 and 220,000 since the start of the Games, left the Phoenix snowboard park in a daze.
“I’ll probably bawl my eyes out some more but this has been a dream of mine since I was a little girl, so to be able to do it when it mattered feels amazing.” —AFP
Web Desk: In the present times, people constantly glued with their laptops and smartphones which can lead to blurry vision, tired eyes, headaches, neck pain and dry eyes. This discomfort called Computer Vision Syndrome.
If your work demands you to stay glued to screen, then follow 20-20-20 rule. In every 20 minutes, take a 20 seconds break and focus on something at least 20 feet away.
Practice simple eye exercises like eye rolling, repeated blinking and focus on any object placed away from your eyes.
There are computer glasses designed to avoid eye fatigue. Wear them while using digital screen because they can help to filter blue lights coming out from computers, smartphones and tablets.
It is also essential to take measures to prevent glare, shadow and reflection caused by external sources of light, which can also cause eye strain.
NEW DELHI: A prominent leader of India’s opposition Congress party, Shashi Tharoor, on Monday rejected police charges against him for abetment in the suicide of his wife in a case that has led to political mudslinging.
Tharoor’s wife, Sunanda Pushkar, was found dead in a Delhi hotel in January 2014, prompting an investigation by city police. Her death came days after she was involved in a row with a Pakistani woman journalist over Twitter.
On Monday, Delhi police said Pushkar’s death was a case of suicide and brought charges against her husband for abetment and cruelty, a police officer said. The officer declined to be identified in line with service rules.
“I have taken note of the filing of this preposterous charge sheet and intend to contest it vigorously. No one who knew Sunanda believes she would ever have committed suicide, let alone abetment on my part,” Tharoor on Twitter.
“If this is the conclusion arrived at after more than four years of investigation, it does not speak well of the methods or motivations of the Delhi Police.”
Tharoor, a former foreign and human resource development minister in the previous Congress party-led government, married Pushkar in late 2010, the third marriage for both of them.
Under Indian law, a magisterial inquiry is automatic if a woman dies within seven years of marriage. Subramaniam Swamy, a leader of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, went to court demanding a special investigation into Pushkar’s death.
The Congress party said on Monday it stood by Tharoor and accused its rivals of playing politics. —Reuters
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