Golden girl Gu 'proud, grateful'

ZHANGJIAKOU • With the roar of home fans cheering her on, San Francisco-born Chinese sensation Eileen Gu said she felt "a deep-seated sense of gratitude" after winning her second gold of the Beijing Olympics and third medal overall in yesterday's freeski halfpipe final.

The 18-year-old set the seal on a hugely successful Games with another commanding performance, clinching the title before she had even started her third and final run. Her gold medal was assured after her second-run score of 95.25, and an emotional Gu took a final victory lap, carving the Olympic pipe for the last time as she soaked up cheers from the crowd.

"The overriding emotion is this deep-seated sense of gratitude and resolution - this all coming together, years and years in the making," she said while breaking down in tears, wearing a panda hat after the victory ceremony.

She was referring to the years of hard work when she juggled hours of daily training with her career as a model and student. "It's like letting out a deep breath," she added.

Gu, who switched from representing the US to China in 2019, became the first athlete to win three Olympic medals in three different freestyle skiing disciplines, after claiming gold in big air and silver in slopestyle in Beijing.

She was hotly tipped to add the halfpipe title after topping Thursday's qualifying, and she wasted no time in laying down a marker in the final with a first-run score of 93.25. That put her in first place and she raised the bar further on her second run. Her win was confirmed while she waited at the top of the halfpipe for her final run, and she hugged her coaches before making her way down with a relaxed and joyous victory lap.

"I was very emotional... I chose to do a victory lap because I felt like for the first time I really deserved it and I really earned it," she said.

Canada's Cassie Sharpe and Rachael Karker took silver and bronze with 90.75 and 87.75 points respectively.

Gu has become the face of the Beijing Games over the past two weeks with her 5.5 million followers on China's Twitter-like Weibo and luxury brand endorsements.

She joked earlier that her grandmother, who had never seen her compete, would be "unfazed and unimpressed" by the massive attention when she arrived to watch yesterday's final.

Gu also said she has received "hundreds of messages" from young girls in China who have been inspired to take up skiing because of her.

But she refused to say whether she would defend her Olympic titles in Italy in four years' time.

"I love skiing still, but in terms of resources and time... it just depends," said Gu, who starts her studies at Stanford University later this year. "I'm going to do whatever feels right."

Gu said her immediate plan was to eat lamb hot pot with her mother and grandmother.

"From the opening ceremony to today I was skiing every single day, so I'm really tired," she said. "But I feel at peace, I feel grateful, I feel passionate and I feel proud."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS