After earning a second straight Olympic silver this week in slopestyle, U.S.-born freeskier Eileen Gu of China turns to big air — her first contest in the event in four years since winning gold at the 2022 Beijing Games.

Some might call that a recipe for disaster, but we're talking about one of the most gifted freeskiers the sport has ever seen. The 22-year-old continues to flash elite trick difficulty and amplitude, largely in halfpipe and in limited slopestyle appearances, and for that reason, a big air title defense isn't out of the question.

Still, even Gu hasn't been immune to injuries that have plagued this event over the past year:

"The hardest part has been staying consistent all these years," she told reporters after Monday's slopestyle final. "I've had a really tough last four years, dealing with injury and time off snow and then some mental stuff."

At least three of Gu's closest competitors are also dealing with issues.

Most notable is Italy's own Flora Tabanelli, the reigning world champion and 2025 Winter X Games winner, who tore her ACL in November and opted for rehab instead of surgery.

The 18-year-old is in Livigno to compete and decided to skip last week's slopestyle contest to focus on big air: "These are big and difficult structures and I wouldn’t have been able to give my best, so it’s better to stick to it for [big air]," she said. "It was a tough choice but I’m happy to be here."

Once the favorite, Tabanelli now faces a tough challenge given the time away without reps and the uncertainty of her knee in a high-impact event. If the double gold medalist from the 2024 Youth Olympics does break through, she could deliver Italy its first Olympic freestyle skiing medal.

American Rell Harwood also tore her ACL — about six months earlier than Tabanelli, last March — and is still feeling the effects. She, too, skipped slopestyle in Italy to focus on big air.

Canada's Megan Oldham, the 2022 Olympic 4th-place finisher who took 3rd at both 2023 Worlds and January's X Games, sustained a concussion two months ago while training new tricks in Switzerland. She said she doesn't remember anything from the day — not even the subsequent hospital visit and CT scan.

"It definitely is a difficult process to try and come back after a mental battle like that," Oldham said Monday. "It's hard to trust yourself again when you're doing these big tricks."

Despite that, Oldham looked to be OK while claiming bronze in Monday's slopestyle final.

A fourth top name isn't in Italy at all: Beijing silver medalist Tess Ledeux of France. The 2023 world champion announced last month she would miss the Games due to a concussion from last March.

"It's all about peaking at the right time," Gu said Monday. "There's a lot of value in using [the Olympics] as almost a compass to orient my training. And so over the last four years, this is what I've been working towards."

As for those healthy and poised to challenge Gu: Oldham's Canadian teammate Naomi Urness, arriving with momentum after making all three World Cups this season, including a win at Steamboat; and Great Britain's Kirsty Muir, also in the mix after finishing runner-up at last month's X Games and winning December's Secret Garden World Cup.

There's also China's Liu Mengting, the 2022 Olympic bronze medalist and runner-up at December's Beijing World Cup; as well as Switzerland's Mathilde Gremaud, historically more of a slopestyle specialist (as evidenced by her gold on Monday), though she won big air gold just last month at X Games ahead of Muir, Oldham and Urness.

With so many variables, it's really anyone's gold. Gu remains the favorite on talent and big-moment pedigree, but this event is almost built for surprises — and another one may very well be coming.

Joining Harwood for the U.S. are Grace Henderson, Marin Hamill and 17-year-old Avery Krumme, who finished 4th in slopestyle qualifying last week before finishing last in the final. Given the experience gap and that most are slopestyle-leaning specialists, it's fair not to expect an American medal threat.

In big air, the best American in 2022 finished 11th, while no Americans competed at 2023 Worlds and Henderson was 14th at 2025 Worlds.

Women's freeski big air begins with qualifying on Saturday, Feb. 14, at 1:30 p.m. ET. You can watch it live on Peacock and NBCOlympics.com.