Irene Gu fell short in her attempt to defend her gold medal.
She ended up with a silver in the Olympic women’s freeski big air event, where Megan Oldham claimed the top spot.
Gu, who was born in the U.S. but competes for China, scored 90.0 on her first attempt, placing her in a tie for third with Austria’s Lara Wolf and Canada’s Oldham.
During her second run, things didn’t go quite right; she struggled to land properly, resulting in a lower score of 61.25, which knocked her down the rankings for a moment.
Interestingly, it wasn’t until her third run that she managed to secure her silver medal in this competition.
Competitors are allowed three runs, and the two highest scores are summed for the overall result.
In her final attempt, Gu achieved a score of 89.00, bringing her total to 179.0, which positioned her in second place behind Oldham.
After Gu’s run, six more athletes competed before her silver medal was confirmed.
Oldham had set the pace with a total score of 180.75.
2026 Winter Olympics
England’s Kirsty Muir performed well in her final run, but unfortunately, she fell during the landing.
This solidified Oldham’s gold medal win. Despite taking a spill herself, Oldham’s earlier performance had already secured her victory.
Flora Tabanelli from Italy took home the bronze medal.
The event faced delays exceeding an hour due to poor weather, yet the snowfall continued.
Earlier in these Olympics, Gu had earned a silver medal in slopestyle.
She previously won gold in freeski big air at the 2022 Games.
Balancing her commitments across three sports, Gu has been open about her rigorous training, even practicing for the halfpipe event alongside the big air finals.
Gu’s background is quite unique; she’s the daughter of an American father and a Chinese mother. In 2019, she decided to switch her competitive allegiance from the U.S. to China leading up to the 2022 Beijing Olympics, where she captured headlines by winning multiple medals.
Last year, she received a remarkable $6.6 million from the Beijing Municipal Sports Bureau, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.
With various sponsorships, she’s recognized as one of the highest-earning athletes at the Olympics.
