Chloe Kim Is Grown Up and Ready for the Olympic Spotlight

She repeated the words of the Instagram insult. She would not say who wrote them.

“It’s definitely one of those things that I wish I didn’t see, but I’m also grateful,” Kim said. “If I didn’t see it, I would have been, like, ‘Oh, cool, we’re still all good.’ It’s helpful for me to know. It definitely made me put my guard up a little more, which I think is OK. You can’t trust anyone.”

The front entry of Kim’s new house was a pileup of shoes, mostly Nike-branded sneakers and flip flops. It was a warm fall day, and Kim was excited about her plans. She slipped into a pair of worn cowboy boots.

She and her boyfriend, Evan Berle, a U.C.L.A. student and former pro skateboarder, drove through Torrance, Calif., one of several suburbs where Kim grew up. They hurried to an appointment at a small stable in Palos Verdes Estates, among rolling hills of ranch homes and twisting roads.

Kim has ridden horses nearly as long as she has snowboarded. It is unclear which brings her the most happiness.

“I’d like to purchase a ranch,” Kim said from the passenger seat as Berle drove. “Have chickens, little pigs … ”

“Goats,” Berle interjected.

“Evan loves goats,” Kim explained. “I love pigs. Oh, and I love donkeys. Maybe some exotic animals, too. Like parrots.”

She told a story about losing her pet parrot, Kiwi, a blue-crowned conure, when it flew away a few years ago. Nothing sounds too tragic or too amazing when it comes from Kim. She is adept at delivering lines in a pleasant deadpan.

The Brooklyn Nets Have So Much Talent but So Little Charm

I watched the Nets play in Brooklyn last week, and a Boston Celtics home game broke out. “M-V-P, M-V-P, M-V-P!” rang the chants, aimed not at one of the Nets but at Jayson Tatum, Boston’s feather-touch, do-it-all forward, as he toed the free-throw line in the fourth quarter of what became a runaway victory for […]

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Novak Djokovic Returns to the Australian Open, No Longer a Villain

MELBOURNE, Australia — It was the day before the Australian Open, and the Park Hotel in Melbourne’s Carlton neighborhood was closed with only the occasional pedestrian passing in front of the dusty, deserted entrance on a sedate Sunday. Quite a different scene than last year, when Novak Djokovic, the world’s No. 1 tennis player, was […]

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Nick Kyrgios Is Coming for Tennis

MELBOURNE, Australia — Nick Kyrgios is finally home. He is in Australia, with his people and in the place he longs for during all those homesick months living out of a suitcase on the professional tennis road. For months, he soaked up the sun and trained in Sydney. But he also squeezed in a bit […]

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