Kim also tallied the music she listened to. On the first run: "Paparazzi" by Lady Gaga; for her third, she said, it was "MotorSport," by Migos, Cardi B and Nicki Minaj.
Afterward, Kim was asked about the practice in Pyeongchang of handing winning athletes a stuffed mascot toy rather than a medal after they've won. The medal ceremonies at these Winter Games have been held hours after some events.
"I mean, mascot's really cute," Kim said. "But just standing on top of the podium" was a special feeling, she added.
China's Jiayu Liu mounted a challenge to Kim, but it wasn't quite enough, and she won silver with a high score of 89.75 from her three runs. She secured her spot with a strong second run that had perfect pacing and control in the halfpipe at Phoenix Snow Park.
After a fall like Kim's in the second run — she slid on her rear after a landing — most snowboarders zigzag down the halfpipe; some don't wait for their scores. But Kim pulled a trick at the bottom of her run, suggesting that she means it when she says that she snowboards not to win, but for fun.
All the same, it seems like she'll keep winning.
Kim has been aiming at the Olympics for a long time. Back in 2014, she couldn't go to Sochi because she was too young.
"When I couldn't make the team in Sochi due to my age – it felt like such a long journey," she said after Monday's qualifying runs, according to a transcript from the Olympics' news service. "You know, going from 13 to 17 is such a big time gap. But at the end of the day, I'm here — and I'm so happy."
Two years ago, Kim became the first woman to land back-to-back 1080 tricks in competition. She has won big on the World Cup circuit, and at the X Games.
Now she has an Olympic gold medal, in the halfpipe event that was run Tuesday morning in Pyeongchang — that's Monday night in the U.S.
Her strong qualifying runs meant that Kim had the luxury of going last in the field of 12 snowboarders at Phoenix Snow Park.
Three other Americans joined Kim in the final: Gold, Clark and Maddie Mastro. For Clark, 34, this was a chance to add to her medal collection. She already has a gold from Salt Lake City in 2002 and bronzes from Vancouver and Sochi.
Kim was not quite 2 years old when Clark won her first Olympic gold medal -- a testament both to Kim's precociousness and Clark's talent and resolve.
Gold said it was "bittersweet" to knock Clark out of third place, saying that in addition to admiring Clark as a teammate and athlete, "she's someone I've looked up to ever since I started snowboarding."
The only thing that could possibly stop Kim's drive to the podium, it seemed as Tuesday's event loomed, was the wind. Bad conditions had shortened the women's snowboard slopestyle event one day earlier, and athletes said their performances were affected by the strong gusts. But the weather cooperated, with a clear and sunny sky, moderately cold temperature, and light winds.