U.S.-born skier Eileen Gu defends Olympic ski halfpipe gold at Milano Cortina Games

Eileen Gu defended her Olympic ski halfpipe title on Sunday to make it six medals in six occasions over her Winter Games profession.

The 22-year-old Gu, American-born however competing for her mom’s homeland of China, is already probably the most embellished freeskier within the brief historical past of the game on the Olympics. She additionally captured two silver medals on the Milan Cortina Games, to pair with two golds and a silver from the Beijing Games.

Gu gained the occasion on the power of her second run, a clear, technically sound move. She bought even higher in her ultimate run — pumping his ski poles after touchdown the ultimate trick — and completed with a rating of 94.75. Her teammate, Li Fanghui, took silver and Zoe Atkin of Britain was third.

“She is unreal. It’s pretty crazy how good she is,” New Zealand’s Mischa Thomas mentioned of Gu. “She is ‘Wonder Woman.'”

The occasion was rescheduled to Sunday following a giant snowstorm the evening earlier than. It was a brilliant, sunny day as Gu shone within the ultimate occasion on the Livigno Snow Park. She shielded her eyes from the solar to catch a peek of her successful rating — and immediately appreciated what she noticed.

There had been fairly a number of Gu followers on the base of the halfpipe, holding up footage of her and waving flags.

Atkin, an American-born skier who competes for her father’s homeland of Britain, soared excessive all contest, a staggering 5.4 meters (18 toes) above the pipe at one level. She completed ninth on the Beijing Games however has been a gentle presence on World Cup podiums ever since. She has three victories during the last 4 years, all in occasions the place Gu did not compete. The 23-year-old Atkin is the defending world champion.

In her second run, Thomas dropped into the halfpipe — and dropped her telephone. It needed to be retrieved for Thomas. After the competitors, she reported: “My phone is great. Never been better.”

Svea Irving was a “DNS” — didn’t begin — within the American’s second run. She returned for a 3rd run however struggled to finish a maneuver and completed in eleventh.

“It was pretty insane,” Thomas mentioned on the printed of the competitors.

Atkin took the lead after the primary run with a clean efficiency. Meanwhile, Gu misplaced her stability on her first trick and lower the run brief.

Cassie Sharpe of Canada sat out the ultimate after a tough crash in Thursday’s qualifying spherical. She gained the gold within the occasion on the 2018 PyeongChang Games and silver 4 years later in Beijing.

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