Eileen Gu defended her Olympic ski halfpipe title on Sunday to make it six medals in six events over her Winter Games career.
The 22-year-old Gu, American-born but competing for her mother’s homeland of China, is already the most decorated freeskier in the short history of the sport at the Olympics. She also captured two silver medals at the Milan Cortina Games, to pair with two golds and a silver from the Beijing Games.
Gu won the event on the strength of her second run, a clean, technically sound pass. She got even better in her final run — pumping his ski poles after landing the final trick — and finished with a score of 94.75. Her teammate, Li Fanghui, took silver and Zoe Atkin of Britain was third.
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“She is unreal. It’s pretty crazy how good she is,” New Zealand’s Mischa Thomas said of Gu. “She is ‘Wonder Woman.'”
The event was rescheduled to Sunday following a big snowstorm the night before. It was a bright, sunny day as Gu shone in the final event at the Livigno Snow Park. She shielded her eyes from the sun to catch a peek of her winning score — and instantly liked what she saw.
There were quite a few Gu fans at the base of the halfpipe, holding up pictures of her and waving flags.
Atkin, an American-born skier who competes for her father’s homeland of Britain, soared high all contest, a staggering 5.4 meters (18 feet) above the pipe at one point. She finished ninth at the Beijing Games but has been a steady presence on World Cup podiums ever since. She has three victories over the last four years, all in events where Gu didn’t compete. The 23-year-old Atkin is the defending world champion.
In her second run, Thomas dropped into the halfpipe — and dropped her phone. It had to be retrieved for Thomas. After the competition, she reported: “My phone is great. Never been better.”
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Svea Irving was a “DNS” — did not start — in the American’s second run. She returned for a third run but struggled to complete a maneuver and finished in 11th.
“It was pretty insane,” Thomas said on the broadcast of the competition.
Atkin took the lead after the first run with a smooth performance. Meanwhile, Gu lost her balance on her first trick and cut the run short.
Cassie Sharpe of Canada sat out the final after a hard crash in Thursday’s qualifying round. She won the gold in the event at the 2018 PyeongChang Games and silver four years later in Beijing.
