LIVIGNO, Italy — Eileen Gu’s calculated risk culminated in Olympic immortality Sunday as the freeskiing phenom secured her third career gold medal in the women’s ski halfpipe final at the Milan Cortina Winter Games. The 22-year-old Stanford student completed an unprecedented medal sweep across three Olympic events, solidifying her status as the most decorated athlete in her sport’s history.
Gu’s victory marked the triumphant conclusion of a grueling 16-day odyssey that saw her compete in halfpipe, slopestyle, and big air disciplines—a scheduling marathon no other female athlete attempted. Her final performance delivered both the highest individual run score (94.75) and the two best overall scores among all competitors, despite an initial stumble on her first attempt that echoed previous qualifying round struggles.
“I took a big risk in trusting myself,” Gu reflected after securing China’s first 1-2 finish in the event alongside silver medalist Li Fanghui. “There was a chance everything could go wrong and I could have walked away with nothing because I was trying to do too much. But in my head, even if everything crashes and burns, I tried. I’ll never regret trying.”
The California-born skier, who competes for her mother’s homeland, now stands alone in freeskiing history with six Olympic medals (three gold, three silver) across two Winter Games. Her technical superiority was evident in her winning run, which featured two 900-degree spins in opposite directions and six complex tricks—one more than her Chinese teammate attempted.
Gu’s impact extends far beyond competitive results. She has become a cultural phenomenon who has reportedly inspired over 300 million Chinese citizens to take up winter sports since her Beijing 2022 debut. Though her geopolitical positioning continues to generate discussion, Gu maintains focus on sport development: “I encourage those people to use that energy and direct it toward something that makes the world better in their own way.”
As spectators chanted “Gu Ailing”—the Mandarin pronunciation of her name—the exhausted but elated champion acknowledged the significance of her accomplishment: “I walked away as the most decorated free skier of all time, male or female. I have the most gold medals of any free skier ever, and that is something that I’m so, so proud of.”