San Francisco-born Eileen Gu of China saved her best for last Sunday at the Milan Cortina Games, defending her Olympic title in women's freeski halfpipe to earn a third medal at Italy's Games in a final that ranked among the greatest displays the sport has ever seen.
After scrapping her first run, Gu opened with a giant 12.5-foot 900 Buick on her second, linking a 900 and a 700 with tail grabs plus a switch 700 before closing with massive back-to-back alley-oop flat 500s for 94.00. She cleaned up the same line on her third to bump her score to 94.75.
The 22-year-old now has six career Olympic medals, leaving Italy as the single-most decorated freestyle skier, man or woman, in Games history. Gu landed silver in both Day 10's big air and Day 3's slopestyle events, respectively won by Megan Oldham and Mathilde Gremaud.
“Every day I was fighting. I gave my all every single day that I’ve been here, and that’s no joke," Gu said. "Being able to lead the way and pioneer the sport is something I never imagined I’d be able to do but I’m really honored and proud that I have.”
After landing low on her first-run opening 900 Buick and bailing, Gu said she "[didn't] fully believe in [her]self," perhaps due to "Olympic jitters." She went to the corral and spoke with her mother, Yan, who was born in Beijing.
"[My mom] said, 'you’ve landed this run five times in training. It’s there, stop thinking so much.'" Gu said. "[My mom] literally said, 'I’m not nervous, you will be fine.' That was really helpful.”
Gu's compatriot and 2025 world silver medalist Li Fanghui claimed silver with a 93.00, while Thursday's No. 1 qualifier Zoe Atkin of Great Britain, the reigning X Games and world champion, took bronze with 92.50.
Like Gu, Atkin was raised in the U.S. and currently attends Stanford University. She grew up outside Boston and learned to ski in Maine before moving to Park City, Utah, at 9. Her father is from England.
“I was really nervous. I have more, that hopefully you’ll see going forward," Atkin said. "To me, standing on the podium is so amazing, especially after my last Olympics where I was quite disappointed with the way I skied. To be able to show the world what I’ve been working on – that’s a win for me.”
Americans Kate Gray and Svea Irving finished 10th and 11th. Fifteen-year-old Abby Winterberger — Team USA's youngest Winter Olympian since Tara Lipinski at Nagano 1998 — and Riley Jacobs did not advance to the final, placing 15th and 18th in qualifying.
Irving's brother, Birk Irving, finished 5th in the men's freeski halfpipe final on Friday. Their grandfather is writer John Irving, who authored works such as "The Cider House Rules" and "A Prayer for Owen Meany."
Gray is the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic bronze medalist and posted a career-best World Cup finish of 5th in December.
Missing from the final was PyeongChang gold and Beijing silver medalist Cassie Sharpe of Canada, who took an extremely hard fall in qualifying.
Before Sunday's contest, Gu, who represented the U.S. until switching allegiance to China in 2019, said she wrote in her journal about self-belief — the love of sport, pouring herself into the sport, having the run of her life and representing her life and her life's work at the moment it counts.
"It’s this beautiful dance, passion and years of dedication, hope and despair and ecstasy," she said. "It’s a really beautiful journey. What I wanted more than anything was just to show the world a glimpse of what I’ve been doing the last four years.”
Sunday's final was originally scheduled for Saturday but was postponed due to poor weather.
Women's Freeski Halfpipe Final
🥇 Eileen Gu, China (94.75)
🥈 Li Fanghui, China (93.00)
🥉 Zoe Atkin, Great Britain (92.50)
4. Amy Fraser, Canada (88.00)
5. Indra Brown, Australia (87.00)
6. Zhang Kexin, China (83.25)
7. Rachael Karker, Canada (79.50)
8. Mischa Thomas (77.75)
9. Liu Yishan, China (71.75)
10. Kate Gray, United States (66.50)
11. Svea Irving, United States (22.50)
DNS Cassie Sharpe, Canada