Chloe Kim said she was 'lonely' at the Beijing Olympics without her family and her pup there to support her

• Chloe Kim felt "a little lonely" at the Beijing Olympics, the superstar snowboarder told Insider.
• The 22-year-old American said she struggled with not having her family and dog there for support.

They say it's lonely at the top.

But for Chloe Kim, it's not so lonely as long as she has her family and dog, Reese, by her side. That's what made the Beijing Olympics so challenging for the 22-year-old American and countless other Olympians who couldn't bring their loved ones along for the games due to China's strict Covid-19 protocols.

"It was different, not only not having Reese, but my whole family not being there was so weird," Kim told Insider. "The first time, my whole family was there to support me, and it was really fun and a great shared experience."

"But I was able to pull through," she added.

You can say that again.

Though Kim admits that she struggled with "feeling a little lonely" this time around, she didn't show it once she was out on the slopes. She needed just one run in qualifying to finish in first place and secure her spot in the women's halfpipe finals.

Then, the next day, Kim once again relied on a massive first run — receiving a 94.00 from the judges right off the bat — in the medal event to secure her second consecutive gold. With the decisive victory, the Southern California native became the first woman ever to win two Olympic snowboarding gold medals.

Still, she's not sure she'd have shown the same composure during her first Olympic Games four years before.

"I'm really grateful that it was my second [Olympics] because I already knew what to expect," Kim said. "But we came out of it in one piece, and that's all that matters. No injuries, no nothing."

She did take a few scary falls while attempting some gravity-defying and potentially history-making feats. During her second run of the qualifying event, Kim under-rotated on a trick and landed chest-down in the snow.

After an impressive and clean first run during the final, she decided to go even bigger and add some flair to her second and third trips down the pipe by attempting a cab 1260. Kim completed the three and a half rotations necessary for the trick both times but failed to get her board secured underneath her for either landing.

She joked that maybe "I could have landed my 12" had her dog been able to join her in Beijing.

"Reese was not there, which was really sad," Kim explained. "I wish she was. I feel like I always do better at contests when she's there."

The six-year-old Australian Shepherd has been by the snowboarding sensation's side since she was an 8-week-old, "super cute, super tiny, little bit reckless" puppy. Kim's family "was against me getting a dog" at first because of her hectic schedule. But now, they all love her so much that "everyone always fights" over who gets to watch Reese when Kim's away.

With so much puppy love coming her way from Reese, Kim decided to pay it forward to dogs in need. She teamed up with Purina Pro Plan for the Million Mile Challenge, which encourages owners to get active with their dogs and help the brand reach its goal of 1,000,000 collective miles walked on Strava.

For every mile people walk and log with their pups between April 19 and May 17, Pro Plan Sport is donating 10 cents to Athletes for Animals — the professional athlete-run nonprofit that helps homeless pets live better lives.

"We're giving back to a great cause," Kim said, adding: "Maybe it'll inspire you even more to get out there with your pup, or even if you don't have a pup, to just go on a walk."