China’s Eileen Gu caps off Freestyle Ski World Cup season with flawless half-pipe run, wins first crystal globe
- Eileen Gu ends the Freestyle Ski World Cup season with a perfect record in the women’s half-pipe
- Gu has positioned herself as the outright favourite to win gold in Beijing next month
Eileen Gu capped the FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup season with a perfect record in women’s half-pipe after a triumph at Mammoth Mountain in California on Saturday to capture the first crystal globe of her career.
The 18-year-old reigning world champion, who was born in the United States but will represent China at next month’s Beijing Olympics, delivered a pair of solid runs and finished with a career best of 97.5.
“I am absolutely blown away,” Gu said in an interview after taking first place. “That’s the highest score I’ve ever gotten. I’m so happy to put a run down today, I think that was probably one of the best runs I’ve done in half-pipe.”
Gu has now won World Cup titles in Steamboat, Copper Mountain and the Dew Tour in the space of a month, continuing a streak of winning in major freeski events since her double gold at the world championships last February.
“So unbelievably hyped to end the half-pipe World Cup undefeated and with my first crystal globe,” Gu added. “Feeling really proud to have landed probably my best contest run ever during my second run.”
Former half-pipe world champion Kelly Sildaru of Estonia claimed the silver medal with a score of 92.5, while American Brita Sigourney’s 87.75 was enough to take bronze. Li Fanghui of China was fifth, followed by Saori Suzuki of Japan.
