Irene Gu Expresses Frustration Over Training Arrangements at Winter Olympics

After earning a spot in the big air finals for the Winter Olympics, Irene Gu expressed her disappointment with the event organizers on Saturday. She felt that the lack of training opportunities compared to other skiers for her third event, the halfpipe, was unfair.

Gu, who secured a silver medal in slopestyle earlier this week, is the only female freeskier competing in all three events: slopestyle, halfpipe, and big air.

The big air final is set for Monday, which clashes with the first of three scheduled halfpipe training sessions for the following week.

The 22-year-old, a prominent figure in the Milan-Cortina event, reached out to the organizers from the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) about the training schedule.

She clarified that she wasn’t seeking special treatment, but simply wanted the chance to train as much as the other competitors. Gu even suggested compromises, like joining snowboarders for halfpipe training, but the FIS insisted that they couldn’t make adjustments for one athlete without disadvantaging others.

“I’m disappointed in FIS,” she said. “The Olympics should ideally embody aspiration, and achieving something extraordinary ought to be celebrated, not penalized.”

While the FIS had planned three training sessions before qualifying—more than the typical two at World Cup events—a spokesperson noted that scheduling conflicts are sometimes unavoidable for athletes competing in multiple events.

Earlier in the Olympics, Estelle Ledecka faced a similar dilemma, having to choose between defending her snowboarding title or partaking in her favorite ski event, downhill, roughly five hours away. She chose to snowboard and finished in fifth place but crashed in her super-G run.

Gu, who competes for the Chinese national team but is American-born, hasn’t skied in the halfpipe since the World Cup held in December. She last competed in big air at the Beijing Games four years ago, where she won gold, and she aims to replicate that success in Italy.

Big air and slopestyle share elements, as the jumps in both events are quite similar, yet halfpipe presents a unique and riskier challenge. Gu has enjoyed significant success, with 15 of her 20 World Cup wins occurring at this tournament.

“Halfpipe is a completely different event,” she remarked. “It’s like comparing sprinting to marathon running. Sure, I can do both, but they’re distinct sports.”

During the last Olympics, Gu’s slopestyle event wrapped up just before halfpipe practice. She recalls finishing an interview while grabbing some chive pancakes before rushing back to practice for her next event.

This time around, she won’t have the same concerns over scheduling. However, she took a tumble during her second jump in the big air preliminaries, making her final attempt a high-pressure situation to secure a finals spot. It mirrored her earlier slopestyle experience, from which she also managed to advance.

“Despite not having skied in four years, I still know what I’m doing,” she explained. “I understand my body, I can still perform flips, and I’m trying not to fixate too much on medals.”

Yet, the pressure is on in terms of scheduling. Whether or not she gets the first halfpipe training session, the timeline remains tight.

Following the big air final on Monday, halfpipe qualifying is set for Thursday, with the final scheduled for Saturday, making her a key competitor in the wrap-up of 25 medal events at Action Sports Park.

“I think this is really unfair. Honestly, it feels like a punishment for striving for excellence,” Gu stated. “Attempting to compete in all three events makes it nearly impossible to train evenly for the halfpipe.”