Eileen Gu retains Winter Olympics halfpipe title then learns of grandmother’s death

LIVIGNO – Eileen Gu won the women’s freeski halfpipe on Feb 22 to end her wait for a gold medal at the Milano-Cortina Olympics, before learning the heartbreaking news that her grandmother had died.

She broke into tears at a post-event press conference in Livigno as she described how her grandmother, Feng Guozhen, had inspired her.

“A lot of people just cruise through life, but she was a steamship,” she said. “This woman commanded life and she grabbed it by the reins and she made it into what she wanted it to be.”

The American-born Gu chose to represent her mother’s and grandmother’s homeland of China at the Olympics.

She said they had discussed her appearance at the Games. “I didn’t promise her that I was going to win, but I did promise her that I was going to be brave like she has been brave,” Gu said.

The 22-year-old, who also won silver in slopestyle and big air in Italy, posted a best score of 94.75 at Livigno Snow Park to edge out Chinese teammate Li Fanghui. Britain’s Zoe Atkin took bronze.

She is now the most decorated freestyle skier in the history of the Winter Games. Doing all three disciplines meant she had to miss some of the halfpipe training at the Olympics and said it was a gamble to commit to so many events.

“I’m so tired but I’m so happy,” she said. “I feel like I’ve been giving 110 per cent of myself every single day. It’s like a marathon distance but a sprint pace because I can’t slack any day.”

“I took a big risk in trusting myself and I’m glad that I did,” added Gu.

“In all three events I showcased my best skiing and as far as performance goes, that’s all I can ask for... I’m the most decorated freeskier of all time, male or female.

“That’s a testament to competitive strength, it’s mental strength. It’s being able to perform under pressure. It has nothing to (do with) if you’re a boy or a girl.”

After a disappointing opening round, she nailed her second and third runs to top the standings.

Gu, who won two golds and a silver on home snow at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, moved out of a tie with Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury and China’s Xu Mengtao at the top of the all-time Olympic freestyle skiing medal table.

Li nailed her second run to move into second place and improved her score to 93.00 on her third attempt, with only Atkin left to go.

World champion Atkin, like Gu born in the United States but representing the country of one of her parents, put down her best run of the day to round out the final but only managed a score of 92.50 and had to settle for bronze.

The final was postponed for a day because of heavy snowfall in the Italian Alpine resort. 

In Tesero, Sweden’s Ebba Andersson won the women’s 50km classic cross-country ski race on Feb 22. Heidi Weng of Norway won silver and Switzerland’s Nadja Kaelin took bronze. 

It was redemption for Andersson, who suffered a series of disastrous falls in the relay that cost her team a gold. She also has three silvers at Milano-Cortina.

In Cortina d’Ampezzo, Germany’s Johannes Lochner collected his second bobsleigh gold of the Games in the four-man event on Feb 22, completing a hugely dominant week for the sliding superpower.

Compatriot and double-defending champion Francesco Friedrich took silver but Germany’s hopes of a first clean sweep in the event were spoilt when Michael Vogt snatched bronze for Switzerland on the final run.

In curling, Anna Hasselborg’s Sweden claimed a 6-5 victory over Switzerland in a tight final to become the first women’s team to win three Olympic medals overall.

“Team Hasselborg” also won gold at the Pyeongchang Games in 2018 and followed that up with bronze in Beijing in 2022.

In the men’s final that ended late on Feb 21, Canada, who were mired in a cheating controversy earlier in the tournament, beat Britain 9-6 in a tense final to win gold for the fourth time.

They secured their country’s first title in the event since defeating Britain in the 2014 final in Sochi.

Britain had to settle for a third silver in the last four Olympic men’s curling competitions after slipping up in the last two ends in Cortina d’Ampezzo.

The tournament was mired in controversy earlier in the Games when Canada’s Marc Kennedy insulted a Swedish opponent who accused him of cheating.

The spat led to fears that the sport was losing its once genteel image and the Canadians faced criticism in their own national media.

A fired-up skip Brad Jacobs pulled no punches in his post-game press conference, calling the allegations “outrageous”.

“I’ll guarantee you that only motivated us further to go out and prove to everyone that we’re the best team... in the world,” he added.

“Integrity means a lot to us. We wanted to go out there and prove everyone wrong and rise to the top of the podium.”

For the Games’ final medals up for grabs, the United States completed a golden double in ice hockey in Milan, defeating Canada 2-1 in overtime to win a third Olympic men’s gold and their first since 1980.

On Feb 19, the American women had come from behind to beat defending champions Canada 2-1 in an overtime thriller.

Matt Boldy opened the scoring for the US men before Cale Makar equalised for the Canadians. Jack Hughes scored the winning goal in overtime. AFP, REUTERS