PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — Chloe Kim, the 17-year-old gold medal favorite in the snowboard halfpipe, was sitting near Shaun White when a question about pressure was directed her way. Kim, lined up on an auditorium stage with the American team on the eve of the Winter Olympics, was, after all, expected to overwhelm the competition here, and maybe at several more Games after this.
She shrugged the question away.
“I don’t really think about it as pressure,” she said. Pressure is a byproduct of expectations, she added, and expectations mean that people believe in you.
White, 32 years old and the most famous rider in history, fielded deeper questions about his life and career.