Marin Hamill’s return to the podium couldn’t have come at a better time.

The 24-year-old secured a return trip to the Winter Olympics by finishing 2nd behind Eileen Gu in women’s freeski slopestyle at the Laax Open. It matches Hamill’s career-best result on the World Cup circuit, which came four years ago.

The Laax Open is the final World Cup competition before next month’s Milan Cortina Olympics. It also served as the final selection event for the U.S. freeski slopestyle and big air team.

To automatically qualify for the Olympic team, skiers needed a podium finish at one of the freeski slopestyle or big air selection events. Prior to the Laax Open, no U.S. women had achieved that, and Hamill’s best result was 8th.

In the Laax Open final, Hamill briefly had the lead after scoring a 71.38 on her opening run. The judges rewarded her heavily for her switch left 360 to switch left 360 on the “butter” section at the end of the course, a unique feature that presented skiers with multiple creative options.

But, as expected, the top score of the day ultimately went to Gu. Not only did she bring the most technicality to the two rail sections, she also excelled on the jump sections with a switch left misty 900 blunt, left double cork 1080 blunt and right cork 900 Buick. Her score of 85.13 was ahead of the rest of the field by a wide margin.

The win, Gu’s 20th overall on the World Cup circuit across all disciplines, was something of a statement. Since winning silver in slopestyle at the last Olympics, this year’s Laax Open was just the fourth time she’s competed in the discipline. Her primary focus has been halfpipe.

“I’m really proud of myself for the consistency that I’ve shown and being able to come back into slopestyle and show that I’m still here,” she said afterward.

Gu, who was born in the U.S. but competes for China on the international stage, is widely viewed as the favorite in all three freeski disciplines for the upcoming Winter Olympics.

Hamill held on for a 2nd-place finish and became the first women to officially qualify for the U.S. freeski slopestyle and big air team. Avery Krumme, a 17-year-old rookie, had another strong finish in 4th place and is likely to join her on the Olympic roster, which can include up to four women.

The rest of the team is expected to be named in the coming week. U.S. Ski & Snowboard has the option of making discretionary selections for some of the roster spots.

On the men’s side, Norway’s Birk Ruud won his third consecutive Laax Open title. The 25-year-old scored an 85.05 on Run 1, distinguishing himself with a right double cork 1620 mute, switch right double cork 1440 Japan and switch left double cork 1620 blunt on the jumps.

Ruud finished just ahead of Austria’s Matej Svancer (2nd) and Canada’s Evan McEachran (3rd). Hunter Henderson (5th) finished as the top American, with Konnor Ralph (8th) and Colby Stevenson (11th) also joining him in the men’s final.

Those results officially locked Mac Forehand, who did not compete in Laax, into a spot on the U.S. Olympic team alongside Alex Hall and Troy Podmilsak. Forehand won last week’s selection event in Aspen.

A fourth skier will be named to the men’s team in the coming week. Based on the results of the selection events, Ralph would be next in line to get a spot via objective criteria; however, U.S. Ski & Snowboard has the option of making a discretionary selection. The U.S. has a deep pool of talent in this event which includes Stevenson, the 2022 Olympic big air silver medalist and five-time X Games gold medalist.

The Laax Open resumes with snowboard halfpipe contests Saturday at 1 p.m. ET and will conclude with snowboard slopestyle Sunday at 7:15 a.m. ET.

Women’s Freeski Slopestyle

1. Eileen Gu (CHN), 85.13
2. Marin Hamill (USA), 71.38
3. Lara Wolf (AUT), 67.85
4. Avery Krumme (USA), 63.53
5. Elena Gaskell (CAN), 62.75
6. Muriel Mohr (GER), 62.11
7. Mathilde Gremaud (SUI), 60.03
8. Madeleine Disbrowe (NZL), 49.33
9. Maria Gasslitter (ITA), 47.41
10. Liu Mengting (CHN), 46.80

Men’s Freeski Slopestyle

1. Birk Ruud (NOR), 85.08
2. Matej Svancer (AUT), 84.08
3. Evan McEachran (CAN), 82.70
4. Sebastian Schjerve (NOR), 82.26
5. Hunter Henderson (USA), 80.50
6. Vebjoern Graaberg (NOR), 79.53
7. Andri Ragettli (SUI), 78.53
8. Konnor Ralph (USA),76.45
9. Tormod Frostad (NOR), 76.01
10. Alexander Henderson (CAN), 74.03
11. Colby Stevenson (USA), 73.81
12. Nils Rhyner (SUI), 73.75
13. Kim Gubser (SUI), 63.06
14. Miro Tabanelli (ITA), 52.66