Eileen Gu Wins Second Olympic Medal After Claiming Silver in Women’s Freeski Slopestyle

US-born freestyle skier Eileen Gu, who represents China, won the silver medal in women’s freeski slopestyle at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Switzerland’s Mathilde Gremaud claimed gold, and Estonia’s Kelly Sildaru took home the bronze. 18-year-old Gu was born and raised in California, but made the decision to compete for her mother’s native country of China back in 2019, to be a role model in inspiring young Chinese skiers. This is medal number two for Gu after winning gold in women’s big air last week.

Freeskiing slopestyle is scored similarly to freesking halfpipe, but instead of a big U-shaped halfpipe, the course has obstacle features like rails, jumps, and other elements, which athletes can use creatively to improve their scores. A panel of either five or six judges award overall “impression” scores from 1 to 100. Judges credited Gu with a 69.90 after the first round, so she was in third place. But after a fall in her second round, she was in eighth place. Gu’s final run totaled 86.23, just over .33 points behind Gremaud.

“Genuinely had so much fun skiing today, and can’t wait for halfpipe coming up next! Congrats to all the girls for inspiring me and pushing the sport as always,” Gu wrote on Instagram. We’re excited to see what Gu can do . . . could there be another medal in her future?