Chinese fans are still basking in star freeskier Eileen Gu’s glorious Beijing Winter Games gold medal – and the big air is not even considered her strongest event. The US-born 18-year-old, who landed her first left double cork 1620 on the way to winning the Olympics’ inaugural big air event on Tuesday, has been touted as a heavy favourite in the half-pipe event from February 17 to 18. Gu should also contend for a podium finish in the slopestyle on February 13 and 14, meaning she could leave Genting Snow Park with an unprecedented three Olympic freeski medals. No freeskier has won Winter Olympic medals in three different disciplines. “I don’t want to think about the next two events, I am a very fast-paced person, so I just want to soak it all in,” Gu said. Having already made history for China at the X Games , world championships and World Cup series last year, another Olympic medal would only further cement her place as the mainland’s ultimate snow sports poster girl. “Going into it, I kind of told myself that it was a win-win situation because if I didn’t land it, I was walking away with a bronze medal and I would have felt like that I had really laid it out there,” said an emotional Gu post-Big Air win. Eileen Gu, China’s celebrity skier eyeing Winter Olympics gold “I did everything that I possibly could and I sent a message out to the world about my character, my spirit, and my mission, which has always been to break my own boundaries. “I’m not here to compete against other people or to beat other people, but it’s really about doing the best that I can. So even if I didn’t land it, I would have been happy.” Gu, who ducked the question over whether she still held a US passport, won gold in the half-pipe and Big Air and silver in the slopestyle at the 2020 Youth Olympics in Lausanne. “So coming here, I really feel there was a sense of coming home,” she said “I feel just as American as Chinese. I don’t feel I’m taking advantage of one or another. They understand that my mission is to foster a connection between countries and not a divisive force.” Last year, she won slopestyle and half-pipe gold (and Big Air bronze) at the Aspen World Championships. She ranks first in the FIS half-pipe rankings after a “perfect record” World Cup season . She stands fourth in the Big Air and ninth in slopestyle. “The tears were mostly of joy, that I had pushed myself to the absolute limit,” Gu said. “That was the best moment of my life. The happiest moment, day, whatever … of my life. I just cannot believe what just happened.” Gu’s outstanding Big Air performance was enough to snatch first place from France’s Tess Ledeux, 20, the reigning X Games champion, who had to settle for silver in Shougang. Gu said she had only made the decision to attempt the difficult trick after defying the advice of her Chinese mother, Yan, who called her before the jump. “I have never done the ‘left 16 before’, I hadn’t prepared much for it apart from two days on the airbag,” Gu said. “My mom called me before my last jump and told me not to, but I was adamant I wanted to do the ‘left 16’. “I felt it was a chance to push myself to the limit, so I made an executive call. “It’s the biggest honour, the biggest dream to win gold here today, especially in front of this crowd.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Eileen Gu 🖤🌈🧊🐲 (@eileen_gu_) The teenager revealed that months before competing in Beijing, she had kept a picture of an Olympic gold medal on her smartphone to help her visualise success. “It’s a monumental moment because it’s the first freeski Big Air medal in Olympic history,” she said. “I hope this inspires more girls to take up freeskiing.”