PYEONGCHANG, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- American snowboarder Chloe Kim confirmed her reputation as one of the most exciting young talents at the PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games by comfortably winning gold in the women's halfpipe final on Tuesday.

"I definitely, when I was younger, struggled a little to understand my identity and who I wanted to be and I think having my family to be there throughout the whole process was so helpful," the 17-year-old said.

"I surrounded myself with such nice people that it definitely made it much easier for me. I feel like I got to represent both the US and Korea today."

Kim was already a promising star four years ago at the Sochi Games, but she was too young to compete then. This time in South Korea, her dream has come true.

"Even being at the Olympics was such an insane experience. Just the idea of coming out here seemed unreal. I just wanted to have a good run and to do that was so amazing and obviously taking the win was just icing on the cake," Kim said.

In a dominant performance at Phoenix Snow Park, Kim recorded a winning score of 98.25, beating nearest rival Liu Jiayu of China by 8.50 points.

"It's just thinking about how hard I've worked and all the sacrifices my family has made to get me to this point. I always want to push myself and see what I can do. I love surprising myself and other people," she added.