The Detail That Makes Eileen Gu’s Halfpipe Gold So Dominant
Gold medalist Ailing Eileen Gu of Team People’s Republic of China celebrates during the medal ceremony for the Women’s Freeski Halfpipe Final on day sixteen of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Livigno Air Park on February 22, 2026 in Livigno, Italy.
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In a stacked field, Eileen Gu successfully defended her women’s halfpipe title at the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympics on Sunday.
The 22-year-old is now the most decorated freeskier in Olympic history, male or female, since the halfpipe and slopestyle disciplines debuted at Sochi 2014, with big air following at Beijing 2022.
In her two Olympic appearances, Gu has racked up six freeskiing medals, making the podium in every event she’s entered. At Beijing 2022, she took halfpipe and big air gold and finished with silver in slopestyle.
Now, with her final event concluded at Milan Cortina 2026, the 22-year-old has defended her halfpipe title and added two more silvers in big air and slopestyle.
Very few freeskiers are able contend for the podium in the highly diverse disciplines of halfpipe and slopestyle, with the precision and air awareness required by the former and the rails prowess and big-jump ability of the latter.
Gu could hold this record for many Games to come, especially since three-time halfpipe medalist Alex Ferreira has confirmed Milan Cortina 2026 will be his final Games.
The run that earned Gu halfpipe gold on Sunday was her third, which scored 94.75 points for its technicality, difficulty and clean execution. Gu went right 900 Buick, left 900 tail grab, right 720 tail grab, switch 720 Japan and then ending with back-to-back alley-oop flat 500s.
Ailing Eileen Gu of Team People’s Republic of China reacts after competing in the third run of the Women’s Freeski Halfpipe Final on day sixteen of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Livigno Air Park on February 22, 2026 in Livigno, Italy.
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It was a cleaning up of Gu’s second run, featuring the same exact tricks, which had vaulted her into first place with a score of 94.00.
Thus, even though China teammate Li Fanghui took silver with a score of 93.00, technically, Gu was good enough in this final to take gold twice over, posting the two highest scores of the competition.
In her first run, Gu had landed low on the 900 Buick on her first hit, killing her speed for the rest of her run. After speaking with her mother, Yan, in the corral, however, she was able to shake off the Olympic jitters and put down the two best runs of the contest.
Great Britain’s Zoe Atkin took bronze with a run that scored 92.50.
Gu has had to contend with many challenges and distractions off the snow at this Games, from going viral for clapping back at a reporter who asked if she viewed her first two medals as gaining silvers or losing golds, then having to address Vice President JD Vance’s comments that the American-born Gu should be competing for the U.S., not China.
On Sunday, not long after her halfpipe gold, Gu also learned that her beloved grandmother, Feng Guozhen, had died.
“I think what’s so interesting is that a lot of people just cruise through life, but she was a steamship,” Gu said. “This woman commanded life, and she grabbed it by the reins, and she made it into what she wanted it to be. And she inspired me so much.”
Assuredly, many people, especially young women who have watched her Olympics dominance, would say the same about Eileen Gu.
