Teen snowboarder credits recent success to mental growth

Having captured two straight World Cup titles in the leadup to her first Winter Olympics, teenage snowboarder Choi Gaon says her mental development has been the big key to her success. Choi won the women's halfpipe gold medal at the latest International Ski Federation Snowboard World Cup stop in Copper Mountain, Colorado, on Friday (local time), with 94.50 points. A week earlier, Choi had also come out on top in the World Cup event in China. The 17-year-old had one career World Cup title to her credit entering this season. "I've never won two titles in the same season before, so it hasn't hit me yet," Choi told Yonhap News Agency over the phone Sunday. "I am pleased that my hard work is paying off and that I've been able to stay healthy." Korean American star Chloe Kim has won each of the past two Olympic gold medals in the women's halfpipe, in which boarders perform acrobatic spins, flips and board grabs on a 22-foot, U-shaped structure. They are judged on degrees of difficulty, height and execution of their moves. Kim is still regarded as the athlete to beat at the Milan-Cortina Winter