Switzerland's Gremaud wins slopestyle gold, 'relieved' Gu settles for silver

ZHANGJIAKOU, Hebei: Switzerland's Mathilde Gremaud won gold in the women's freeski slopestyle at the Beijing Olympics on Tuesday (Feb 15), while China's home favourite, Eileen Gu, was roared on by fans in the final but had to settle for silver.

China's "Snow Princess" Gu went all out from the beginning, landing a clean and controlled first run, but hit the deck on her second try, forcing her to sit on her skis to take a breath.

The fall piled the pressure on Gu ahead of her third and final run, and while she earned 86.23, it was not enough to top Gremaud's best of 86.56, with Estonia's Kelly Sildaru taking bronze with 82.06.

Gu hugged her fellow medallists after her score was called out, making a heart gesture with her arms and waving to fans in the stands.

Taking a pork bun out of a plastic container after the final, the 18-year-old Gu apologised to a crowd of reporters for always eating while taking questions.

"I just have no other time to eat," the San Francisco-born skier said as she took a bite.

"I wanted to get on the podium more than anything, so landing that (third run) I felt happy, I felt relieved," Gu said, adding that she had put herself under intense pressure to land the double cork 1080 in her third and final run.

Gu said that she would think about the narrow difference between her best score and that of the Swiss skier for a while, but said she was "honoured" to take silver and compete at the Olympics.

"I didn't win the contest, but I still walked away with a silver medal after a gold medal (in Big Air) ... so I'm proud of myself," she said.

Gu competed in the United States team as a child, but switched to compete for China in 2019. She will next compete in the halfpipe qualifiers on Thursday.

Gremaud, 22, who won