Ailing (Eileen) Gu grabs medal hat-trick with huge freeski halfpipe win

Ailing (Eileen) Gu continued her rampage at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games Beijing with a dominant performance in the best of her three disciplines: the women’s freeski halfpipe.

Her opening-run score of 93.25 on a windy day in the superpipe was more than enough for the gold medal on offer. But she had more to offer still as she sent a clear message to the rest of the competing field – and the whole of the watching world.

The victory for the USA-born Gu – who chose to ski for the People’s Republic of China (the country of her mother’s birth) won all four halfpipe freeski events on the current FIS world cup tour – is her third medal of these Olympics Games (and her second gold after also taking the top spot in the big air debut).

She’s now the only freeskier in history to win three medals in one Olympics.

Beside the 18-year-old phenom on the podium were defending Olympic gold medallist from PyeongChang 2018 Cassie Sharpe of Canada, who won the silver medal with some stylish 1080s and a score of 90.75 – and her countrywoman Rachael Karker who scooped bronze with some big air (87.75).

Gu opened her first run (as the top qualifier she went last among the first round of 12 skiers in the best-run-of-three format) with a huge cork 900, complete with a tricky Buick grab – made famous by Team USA men’s slopestyle gold medallist Alex Hall. 

It was enough to put her well into first place (with 4.25 points more than her closest chaser), but she had more to offer still as she continued to revolutionise the sport of women’s freeski halfpipe here in Beijing.

She soared nearly four metres out of the pipe in her second run and upgraded her trick selection to include a pair of back-to-back alley-oop flat spins – earning her a score up in