Freestyle skiing-Double champion Gu rebounds after fall to make slopestyle final

LIVIGNO, Italy, Feb 7 - Double Olympic champion Eileen Gu rebounded from a fall in her first slopestyle run at the Milano Cortina Games on Saturday, qualifying for the finals with a polished second run and setting up a battle with reigning gold medallist Mathilde Gremaud.

American-born Gu, who represents her mother's country of China at the Olympics, lost her balance early in her first run and slipped off the first rail, an obstacle that tripped up several competitors on a sunny day in the northern Italian mountain town of Livigno.

"I shouldn't have fallen, (but) I fell. I could have held on to (the rail)...so I think there was just this moment of, like, hesitation, uncertainty," Gu said, adding that 50% of her sport is mental with the other 50% being skill.

The 22-year-old added that, right after falling, she was confused about what had just happened, questioning whether something was wrong with what she ate or how she slept or with the slope itself.

She took a safer course on her next run to secure second place overall in the qualifying round, just behind Switzerland's Gremaud. On Thursday Gu had said she had nothing to prove at the Games after becoming the first person to win three freestyle skiing medals at a single Olympics, in Beijing in 2022.

"By the time I got to the front of the gate, there was zero doubt in my mind that I was going to land. I was totally calm, which is pretty amazing, because I went through like the five stages of grief first," Gu said.

She said that one of her mantras is "I train like I've never won, and I compete like I've never lost".

TECHNICAL RUN

In the last few days of training sessions several skiers said they were impressed with the slopes, noting, however, that the slopestyle course had longer rails than the typical World Cup courses, affecting the way they would piece together their tricks.

Gremaud, who qualified first, said "it took a bit of time to figure out" the run, particularly some of the rails, and that skiers had to calibrate well their speed.

She added that although she would fight to hold on to her Olympic title in the final, her focus was "thinking (about) having clean skiing and enjoy myself".

Britain’s Kirsty Muir finished third among the riders who qualified for Monday's final. Italy's Maria Gasslitter claimed the 12th and final spot.

Muir said she was relieved and excited to finish third and make it through to the finals, adding that qualifications are more stressful than finals because “it’s your moment to make it”. REUTERS