Canada’s Oldham wins Olympic freeski big air gold over Gu

Megan Oldham of Canada won women’s freeski big air gold at the Milan Cortina Olympics, beating China’s Eileen Gu by 1.75 points after a 75-minute weather delay.espn
Gu’s silver makes her the most decorated female Olympic freestyle skier in history with five medals; Italy’s Flora Tabanelli took bronze four months after tearing her ACL.time
Switzerland’s Mathilde Gremaud, who won slopestyle gold last week, withdrew before the final after suffering a hip injury during training, per Swiss Ski.nbcolympics

Eileen Gu Settles for Silver as Canada’s Megan Oldham Captures Olympic Big Air Gold

Canada’s Megan Oldham weathered a snowstorm delay and outdueled defending champion Eileen Gu to claim women’s freeski big air gold at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics on Monday night. Gu, who won the event’s inaugural Olympic title in Beijing four years ago, finished second with 179.00 points, behind Oldham’s 180.75, while Italy’s Flora Tabanelli thrilled the home crowd by taking bronze with 178.25 points.espn

The result marks Gu’s second silver medal of these Games after also finishing runner-up in slopestyle last week. At 22 years old, the San Francisco-born skier who competes for China now owns five Olympic medals across two Games, making her the most decorated female freestyle skier in Olympic history.time

Storm Delays Final, Swiss Stars Withdraw

Heavy snowfall and wind gusts reaching 18 miles per hour forced organizers to delay the start of the final by approximately 75 minutes, creating treacherous conditions at Livigno Snow Park. The field was further depleted when Switzerland’s Mathilde Gremaud, who had just won slopestyle gold over Gu a week earlier, withdrew after crashing in pre-competition training and injuring her hip. Her teammate Anouk Andraska also pulled out with a wrist injury sustained in a separate training crash.nbcolympics

Oldham established her dominance early, posting 91.75 on her opening run and 89.00 on her second attempt. Gu started strong with a 90.00 first run but faltered on her second jump. Under pressure in the final round, she landed a left-side double cork 1260 that earned 89.00 points, securing silver.yahoo

Tabanelli’s bronze capped a remarkable comeback for the 18-year-old Italian, who tore her ACL in training just four months before the Games. Her final run scored 94.25—the highest single-trick score of the competition—sending the home crowd into celebrations.olympics

Gu’s Scheduling Criticism

Despite her silver medal finish, Gu has been vocal about what she called an “unfair” Olympic schedule. After qualifying on Saturday, she criticized the International Ski and Snowboard Federation for scheduling big air finals during halfpipe training, forcing her to miss an entire practice session.foxnews

“I think it’s really unfair. I think it’s punishing excellence, to be completely honest with you,” Gu said, adding that competing in three disciplines “should be celebrated instead of punished”.nytimes

Gu has one more chance to add to her medal haul when she defends her halfpipe title on Saturday, February 21.espn