American skier Eileen Gu defends Olympic gold in ski halfpipe at the Milan Cortina Games
/ AP
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Eileen Gu defended her Olympic ski halfpipe title on Sunday to claim six medals in six events on her Winter Games career.
Gu, 22, born in the United States but competing for her mother’s homeland of China, is already the most decorated free skier in the sport’s short Olympic history. She also captured two silver medals at the Cortina Games in Milan, along with two golds and a silver at the Beijing Games.
Gu won the event thanks to his second run, a clean and technically sound pass. She improved even more on her final run (inflating her ski poles after performing the final trick) and finished with a score of 94.75. Her teammate Li Fanghui took silver and Britain’s Zoe Atkin came third.

“She’s unreal. It’s crazy how good she is,” New Zealand’s Mischa Thomas said of Gu. “She’s ‘Wonder Woman.'”
The event was rescheduled for Sunday following a major snow storm the night before. It was a bright, sunny day when Gu shined in the final event at the Livigno Snow Park. He shaded his eyes from the sun to take a look at his winning score and instantly liked what he saw.
There were quite a few Gu fans at the base of the halfpipe, holding pictures of her and waving flags.
Atkin, an American-born skier competing for her father’s homeland of Great Britain, soared high throughout the competition, a staggering 18 feet (5.4 meters) above the pole at one point. She finished ninth at the Beijing Games, but has been a consistent presence on World Cup podiums since. He has three wins in the last four years, all in events in which Gu did not compete. Atkin, 23, is the defending world champion.
On his second run, Thomas dropped in the halfpipe and dropped his phone. Thomas had to get it back. After the competition, he reported, “My phone is fantastic. I’ve never been better.”

Svea Irving was a “DNS” (did not start) in the American’s second career. He returned for a third race, but had trouble completing a maneuver and finished 11th.
“It was crazy,” Thomas said on the competition broadcast.
Atkin took the lead after the first race with a fluid performance. Meanwhile, Gu lost his balance on his first trick and shortened the race.
Canada’s Cassie Sharpe crashed out of the final after a heavy fall in Thursday’s qualifying round. She won gold in the event at the 2018 PyeongChang Games and silver four years later in Beijing.
In:
- Olympics
- Skiing
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