Beijing, China, February 8, 2022: China’s “Snow Princess” Eileen Gu Ailing lived up to her star billing by winning gold in the freestyle skiing women’s freeski big air competition at the Big Air Shougang in Beijing on Tuesday.
Tess Ledeux of France was second with 187.50 for silver and Mathilde Gremaud of Switzerland came in third for bronze with 182.50.
The 18-year-old Gu, who has an American father and Chinese mother from Beijing and who lives in San Francisco, scored 93.75 points in her first run and 88.50 in her second before unleashing a special move – known as a left double cork 1620 – to jump from third to first place. Her audible scream of “Oh my God!” told its own story as she sank to her knees in emotion.
“That was the best moment of my life. The happiest moment, day, whatever - of my life. I just cannot believe what just happened,” said Gu, who rose to prominence with two gold medals and one silver at the Winter Youth Olympic Games Lausanne 2020.
Talking about her third and final run, she added: "I was guaranteed a podium spot when I dropped in, so I was thinking I was only 0.25 points behind Mathilde, and I was thinking ‘Should I improve on my previous one and go for the sliver or should I whip out this random trick I’d never done before and go for gold?'
“In my head, I wanted to represent myself and this competitive style that I really take pride in and that desire to push myself and push the sport.
"Even if I didn’t land it, I felt it would send a message out to the world and hopefully encourage more girls to break their own boundaries. That was my biggest goal going into my last run. I reminded myself to have fun and enjoy the moment and that, no matter what, I was so grateful to even have this opportunity to even be here.”
She admitted it was a trick she had never even attempted before, let alone landed successfully. “Yes, I’ve thought about it a lot, but to put it down on my third run in the first Olympic freeski final in history means the world to me."
Gu is the first gold medallist in women’s freeski big air and the first Chinese female freestyle skier to win a gold medal at the Olympic Winter Games.
At 18 years, 158 days she is the youngest gold medallist representing China at the Winter Olympics.
Photos: CGTN
