Slopestyle gold medallist Mathilde Gremaud: Overcoming a concussion, battling Ailing (Eileen) Gu and skiing without pressure

Mathilde Gremaud had a clear plan heading into the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

After winning slopestyle silver at PyeongChang 2018, the Swiss freestyle skier wanted to go one better this time around.

Enter China’s Ailing (Eileen) Gu, the host nation’s superstar skier, was aiming to win the Slopestyle, Big Air, and Halfpipe competitions – something that no other athlete has ever achieved.

She ultimately came very close to doing so, winning two golds from three, but in slopestyle, her friend Mathilde Gremaud rose to the occasion, taking the Olympic title.

After some serious career setbacks, it was just rewards for the impressive Swiss freestyler.

Gremaud has been an elite freestyle skier since 2017, having taken a stunning Big Air gold medal at that year’s Winter X Games, despite being just 17 at the time.

From there, she quickly established herself as one of the world’s very best, going on to take another Big Air gold at the same event two years later, while also earning a superb silver at the 2018 Olympics – this time in slopestyle.

While all was looking good for Gremaud, over the next few years, a new challenger would emerge, one who put the entire sport on notice.

Gu burst onto the scene in 2020, taking two gold medals and silver (not for the last time) at the 2020 Youth Olympics in Lausanne.

Over the next 18 months, Gu would dominate freestyle skiing, after winning a pair of golds at the Winter X Games and the World Championships in Aspen.

Trying to keep pace with Gu that year was Gremaud, who finished in second place behind her young rival in slopestyle at the 2021 World Championships.

However, when it came to the 2022 Olympics, having already won a silver in 2018, the Swiss skier claims that the pressure was