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Eileen Gu emerges victorious in the ski halfpipe upon her return to the X Games
China’s Eileen Gu continued her dominant streak in the ski halfpipe at the Winter X Games, extending it to nearly three years. After missing the Aspen event last year due to injury, the three-time 2022 Olympic medalist showcased impressive back-to-back 900s in her first and third runs, earning scores of 94.66 and 95.66, respectively.
Gu initially won her X Games debut in 2021 and followed it with an Olympic gold in 2022. Despite managing Stanford classes, fashion modeling, and skiing, the 20-year-old athlete has maintained her success. In the previous year, Gu intended to compete in her second X Games but suffered a knee ligament injury and a bone bruise in a training crash a day before the event.
This year, despite a recent hip injury during training, Gu persevered in the competition, displaying the words “Pain is temporary” on her hand, according to commentators.
On the broadcast, Eileen Gu expressed, “This is probably one of the hardest things I’ve had to do.” She highlighted the intense pain she was experiencing during the ski competition, describing it as excruciating and constant, to the point where walking was challenging. Despite the difficulties, Gu emphasized her deep love for the sport as a driving force.
Zoe Atkin, a fellow Stanford sophomore from Great Britain and the reigning champion in Gu’s absence last year, secured second place with a run earning 90.66 points.
While Gu was initially listed to compete in slopestyle on the last day of the X Games, she later announced her withdrawal on Saturday. Gu had won silver in slopestyle at the Olympics, trailing behind Swiss athlete Mathilde Gremaud, who participated in Sunday’s field.
Gu opted out of the other event she won gold in at the Olympics, big air, which occurred later on Saturday. The victory in big air went to Frenchwoman Tess Ledeux for the third time.
On Saturday, Norwegian athlete Birk Ruud secured victory in men’s ski slopestyle by executing back-to-back double cork 1620s. He outperformed Americans Alex Hall, the Olympic gold medalist, and Mac Forehand.
In the men’s snowboard big air event, 18-year-old Taiga Hasegawa from Japan emerged as the winner with a 1980.
