A highly emotional Eileen Gu said she was “so honoured” to have won Winter Olympic gold for China on Tuesday, and hailed the unifying power of sport and the support she had from her US rivals. It was the first gold that China has won on snow this Games, and the Beijing municipal government congratulated “Beijing athlete Eileen Gu” for winning “a precious gold medal for Chinese sports”. The teenager stormed to a first Olympic title of her career in the freeski big air competition, nailing an improbable double cork 1620 on her final run to earn a 94.5 and take the lead from France’s Tess Ledeux. Gu, who had never attempted the trick before in competition, cried at the bottom of the slope as she waited for her score. After getting up, she turned away from the cameras and towards the audience, and pumped her skis in the air. And that’s when she bowed, folding her skis across her body while expressing gratitude to the adoring Chinese audience. “We deliver our heartfelt congratulations to the Chinese sports delegation, Chinese freestyle skiing team, and Eileen Gu,” the municipal government said in a statement. Gu, meanwhile, revealed she had received plenty of backing from fans in Hong Kong, and said she hoped to visit the city someday. “Thank you to all the Hong Kong fans,” she said. “I really, really appreciate it. I’ve seen so many of you guys DMs and I love you guys, I appreciate it so much and I hope to meet you guys soon.” All you need to know about skiing, snowboarding at Winter Olympics Gu, who was watched by Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai and International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach, said she hoped her success would have an impact outside sport. “I did everything that I possibly could and I sent a message out to the world about my character, about my spirit, and about my mission, which has always been to break my own boundaries,” she said. “My biggest goal has always been to give people kind of the opportunity to experience this joy that I get to feel every day and that I’m so grateful that it’s changed my life, especially as a young person,” she said. Discussing the lessons she had learned about “confidence and character” she said she wanted “every young person, every girl” to have the same opportunities. “So, hopefully, I make an impact greater than a medal out of this and that has always been my biggest goal.” With political tension between China and the US providing a significant backdrop to the Games, Gu, who was born in California, said the American team still considered her a “friend and ally”. “And so I think in that sense, they [the US team] set an amazing example about how sport is something that can connect people from all over the world, and that it is a force to unite people as opposed to divide.” Additional reporting by Harvey Kong and Jess Ma