Winter Olympics: Eileen Gu bounces back from fall to win slopestyle silver, ‘I’ve been enjoying it this whole time’
- The freeski big air gold medallist needed to nail her final run to be among the medals and she did not disappoint her fans
- It was Gu’s second medal of the Beijing Winter Games and she has one more chance at gold in the half-pipe, her favoured event
China’s freestyle skiing superstar Eileen Gu amazed crowds once again in Tuesday’s slopestyle final, taking home the silver medal after nailing her last run with a grand score of 86.23.
She was only 0.33 of a point behind gold medal winner Mathilde Gremaud, of Austria. Gu made sure she kept the crowd on the edge of their seats after two low-scoring first runs, including a fall, left her out of the top three. Her final run was her last chance to impress judges and be among the medals – and she nailed it.
Kelly Sildaru, from Estonia, who was the favourite after finishing first in the qualification round, took home bronze. It was a tough day on the course with not a single rider landing three perfect runs – a testament to how unpredictable this competition can be.
In an interview with CCTV after her race Gu said: “It’s been really fun, I’ve been enjoying it this whole time. It wasn’t great when I fell in the middle of the first jump, but in the end I learned from it and made a breakthrough. During the third jump, I knew it was my last shot, and I had to give it my all.”
Gu, who won gold in the big air event last week, scored 69.90 on her first run and followed it up with a 16.98. Fan favourite Gu immediately became the top trending topic on Chinese social media site Weibo following her second medal of the Games and first silver. Millions of users celebrated her success.