Japanese snowboarder Sena Tomita won women's halfpipe bronze at the Beijing Olympics on Thursday, scoring 88.25 points in her second run as American Chloe Kim soared to gold.

Kim put down an impressive 94.00 in her first run at the Genting Snow Park which proved enough for the win and her second successive Olympic gold in the event. Queralt Castellet of Spain won silver with a 90.25 ride.

Sena Tomita of Japan competes in the women's snowboard halfpipe final at the Beijing Winter Olympics on Feb. 10, 2022, at the Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou, China. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Tomita opened her highest-scoring run with a frontside 900 and closed it with a frontside 1080, effectively repeating her first run that scored marginally lower at 86.00. In her last attempt to better her score, she failed on an opening 1080 attempt.

But Kim, who has not lost a competition since winning her first gold and became the first back-to-back women's halfpipe Olympic champion, was too hot to handle. She managed to fit in two 1080s that gave her separation from the rest.

The defending champion, who said she had the worst practice ever before the competition, said, "I reset and reminded myself that it's just another run. I have a brand-new opportunity to go land it, and that calms me down a lot."

Sena Tomita of Japan smiles after her second run in the women's snowboard halfpipe final at the Beijing Winter Olympics on Feb. 10, 2022, at the Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou, China. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

While she said she was proud of her accomplishment, Kim also congratulated her competitors and how the sport has been progressing at a fast pace.

"At the last Olympics, you didn't see that many 1080s, and now everyone is doing a 1080. That's quite the improvement, and it's such an honor to be part of this sport and help progress women's halfpipe snowboarding."

Tomita, who had aimed to just better the eighth she had at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, said, "It feels like I'm dreaming."

"I hoped a result to follow but I didn't expect a medal."

The 22-year-old, who in 2019 suffered a brain contusion after crashing and hitting her head at the same halfpipe during the World Cup, said she was still scared of this venue.

"I was riding while fighting my fear. But I had good memories at this place as well, so I was thinking that I have to overcome all of that and just do this," she said.

U.S. snowboarder Chloe Kim (C) celebrates after winning the women's halfpipe gold medal at the Beijing Winter Olympics on Feb. 10, 2022, at the Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou, China, alongside Spain's Queralt Castellet (L) and Japan's Sena Tomita, who took silver and bronze, respectively. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

"Nailing the first ride helped me a lot to go aggressive in the second and third run."

Tomita is the first Japanese woman to win an Olympic halfpipe medal.

The other Japanese in the final, Ruki Tomita and Mitsuki Ono, finished fifth and ninth, respectively.

Ono entered the final with the second-highest qualifying score but was unable to replicate that earlier form.

The 2020 Youth Olympic Games champion could only muster a 71.50, well short of the 83.75 run she put down on Wednesday.

Sena's sister Ruki left it to her last run to post a big score, but her 80.50 could not power her onto the podium.