First-ever freeski big air Olympic gold goes to Eileen Gu
Feb 08, 2022·Freeski Park & Pipe
The Olympic debut of freeski big air was a momentous one on Tuesday at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, as China’s own Eileen Gu stomped a final-run double cork 1620 safety grab to snatch the first of what could possibly be three gold medals for the 18 year old here in Beijing.
With the conditions sunny, warm and windless and the pristine Shougang Park big air jump running perfectly, it seemed inevitable that we would witness a women’s finals the likes of which has never been seen before, and the 12 skiers on hand for Tuesday’s finals did not disappoint.
Clean landings were the norm on the day, with 10 of the 12 finalists stomping at least one double invert, and heading into the third and final run of competition there was fully seven athletes very much in contention for the podium.
While the podium was within realistically in reach for more than half of the finals field before the start of run three, the gold looked to be all but locked up for France’s Tess Ledeux, who came out firing with the left double cork 1620 safety that she had first landed in competition two weeks ago at X Games, and then followed that up with a switch left 1440 Japan for a massive two-jump score of 187.50 out of a possible 200.
Sitting in third place behind Ledeux and Mathilde Gremaud (SUI) before her final run, Gu knew that she needed something special to grab the gold medal in front of the expectant Chinese crowd, and something special was just what she gave them, throwing her own version of the left dub 1620 safety.
It was the first time she had ever even attempted the trick, and when she stomped it and rode away clean the celebration from herself and the Chinese crowd could have been heard all the way back in the Olympic Village.
The judges awarded Gu’s 1620 an identical score to Ledeux’s - 94.50 - and, paired with the 93.75 earned for her first run right double cork 1440 safety, Gu would jump into the lead with a combined score of 188.25 - just .75 clear of Ledeux.
Ledeux with her final hit of the competition tried to up the difficulty by throwing a double Japan grab into her left 1440, but when she had a small mistake on the landing it was clear the gold would go to Gu.
“That was the best moment of my life. The happiest moment, day, whatever - of my life,” Gu said after winning China’s first Olympic medal in any of the three freeski events, “I just cannot believe what just happened.
"I was guaranteed a podium spot when I dropped in, so I was only 0.25 points behind Mathilde, and I was thinking, 'Should I improve on my previous trick and go for the sliver or should I whip out this random trick I’d never done before and go for gold?' (laughs).
“In my head, I wanted to represent myself and this competitive style that I really take pride in and that desire to push myself and push the sport. Even if I didn’t land it, I felt it would send a message out to the world and hopefully encourage more girls to break their own boundaries. That was my biggest goal going into my last run. I reminded myself to have fun and enjoy the moment and that, no matter what, I was so grateful to even have this opportunity to even be here.”
Ledeux was visibly emotional in the finish area after falling just short of gold, but once the flower ceremony had finished and she’d had some time to reflect the positives of what was an incredible day for herself and women’s freeskiing were shining through.
“Yes, it was emotional,” said Ledeux, “When you lose first place and the Olympic championship by 0.75 points, in this moment it feels a little bad. But I recall all my accomplishments of this past year and I am very happy for this dream because I am still at the Olympic Games. Eileen was impressive. We weren’t expecting that. Bravo to her.
“My strategy was to do the best I could and deliver 100%,” Ledeux went on, “Today, I was at 100% and I have never skied so well in all my life, so I have no regrets. Regret serves nothing. I gave the best that I had and I am proud of that.”
Sensing that there was only one way for her to improve her position after watching Gu’s third run, Gremaud too appeared to be looking for a 1620 on her final hit. Though she crashed heavily on that final attempt, her left double cork 1260 safety and switch left double cork 1440 safety from runs one and two were enough to give her bronze with a score of 182.50 - quite the birthday present for the athlete who turned 22 years old on Tuesday.
“Today was insane,” Gremaud said about her birthday performance, “I gave it all I had and I’m so happy to come away with a medal.”
Action at the Shougang Big Air venue continues on Wednesday, when men’s finals will take to the world’s only permanent city big air facility beginning at 11:00 local time.
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