By Lisa Richwine
LIVIGNO, Italy, Feb 22 (Reuters) – China’s Eileen Gu successfully defended her women’s halfpipe crown at the Winter Games on Sunday with a high-flying run that made her the most decorated Olympic freestyle skier of all time with six medals.
Gu’s compatriot Li Fanghui won silver and the bronze went to Zoe Atkin of Britain.
After a disappointing opening round, Gu nailed her second and third runs to top the standings with a score of 94.75 and add a gold to the silver medals she had won in Livigno in big air and slopestyle.
She put on a stunning show in the sun-splashed Italian Alps, soaring four metres above the 7.2-metre halfpipe and executing flawless flips and spins.
The 22-year-old, who won two golds and a silver on home snow at the Beijing Olympics four years ago, moved out of a tie with Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury at the top of the all-time freeski Olympic medal table.
For the medal ceremony, Gu put a shiny gold bow on her high ponytail to match the gold hardware hanging from her neck.
She said she had been skiing with the bow in her pocket for the entire Milano Cortina Games. Gu blew kisses to the large contingent of Chinese fans who cheered and waved flags bearing her likeness.
“I’m so tired but I’m so happy,” she said. “I feel like I’ve been giving 110 percent of myself every single day. It’s like a marathon distance but a sprint pace because I can’t slack any day.”
Gu was the only woman to compete in the three freestyle skiing disciplines of big air, slopestyle and halfpipe.
Doing all three meant she had to miss some of the halfpipe training at the Olympics and said it was a gamble to commit to so many events.
“I took a big risk in trusting myself and I’m glad that I did,” added Gu.
Li nailed her second run to move into second place and improved her score to 93.00 on her third attempt with only Atkin left to go.
Britain’s world champion Atkin, like Gu born in the U.S. but representing the country of one of her parents, put down her best run of the day to round out the final but only managed a 92.50 and had to settle for bronze.
The final was originally scheduled to take place on Saturday but was postponed because of heavy snowfall in Livigno.
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine, writing by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Ed Osmond and Ken Ferris)
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