Eileen Gu of China won the women’s freestyle ski halfpipe at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, securing her second straight Olympic title in the event.
Gu scored 94.75 in the final on Feb. 22 (Korea time) at Livigno Snow Park in Italy. China’s Li Fanghui took silver with 93.00, and Britain’s Zoe Atkin won bronze with 92.50.
The final, originally scheduled for Feb. 21, was postponed a day because of heavy snow. Gu advanced to the final in fifth place from qualifying. She opened with 30.00, then jumped into first with 94.00 on her second run and improved to 94.75 on her third to seal the win.
Gu had already won silver in slopestyle and big air at these Games, finishing with one gold and two silvers. Including the 2022 Beijing Olympics, she now has three golds and three silvers for six Olympic medals.
The total gives Gu the most Olympic gold medals in freestyle skiing, men or women. Her six medals also move her past Mikael Kingsbury of Canada and Xu Mengtao of China, who each had five, for the most in the sport. Despite major differences among freestyle disciplines, Gu has reached the podium in every event she entered across her two Olympics.
Born to an American father and a Chinese mother and competing for China, Gu was also known as the highest-earning athlete at these Games, with Forbes estimating her income over the past year at $23 million (about 33.3 billion won). At a news conference on Feb. 18, asked about disappointment over her two silvers, Gu said she is the most decorated female freestyle skier in Olympic history and said it was hard to agree with the view that she had missed out on medals.
South Korea’s Kim Da-eun (Kyung Hee University) and Lee So-young (Sangdong High School) were eliminated in qualifying in women’s freeski halfpipe. In women’s snowboard halfpipe, South Korea’s Choi Ga-on (Sehwa High School) earlier won gold, the country’s first in a snow sport event.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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