Gu crashes hard, then fights back under pressure.
Eileen Gu had a scary moment on Saturday night but still kept her Olympic hopes alive.
The defending champion crashed hard on her second jump during women’s big air qualifying at the 2026 Winter Olympics. She had landed her first jump successfully. On the second try, she lost control and fell hard onto the snow. After that, she had no room for mistakes.
Gu stayed calm and delivered on her third and final jump. She landed it cleanly and threw her arms up in relief. The strong score moved her into second place and earned her a spot in Monday’s final.
In Olympic qualifying, skiers must land two jumps, and judges count their two best scores. The top 12 move on. Gu finished with 170.75 points. Megan Oldham led with 171.75, and Mathilde Gremaud was third with 169 points.
Gu won big air gold at the 2022 Winter Olympics. She also won gold in halfpipe and silver in slopestyle there, becoming the first freestyle skier to win three medals at a single Olympics.
Big Stakes On And Off The Snow
The big air ramp in Livigno is more than 40 meters tall. Bright lights lit up the course for the night event. Skiers launched off the huge ramp and flew down the steep hill. One small mistake can ruin a medal chance, and Gu almost learned that the hard way.
Earlier this week, she won silver in slopestyle. Gremaud defended her slopestyle gold on Monday. Now, Gu will also try to defend her halfpipe title.
Off the slopes, Gu gets just as much attention for her background. She was born in San Francisco but competes for China, her mother’s homeland. During the last Olympics, she told the Associated Press, “In the US, growing up, I had so many amazing idols to look up to. But in China, I feel like there are a lot fewer of those. I’d have a much greater impact in China than in the US, and that’s ultimately why I made that decision.”
In 2021, she told ESPN, “Since I was little, I’ve always said when I’m in the US, I’m American, but when I’m in China, I’m Chinese.”
Reports say Gu earned about $23 million over the past year, and only around $20,000 of that came from prize money. Some people in the United States have criticized her decision to compete for China, but she has stayed focused on skiing.
On Saturday night, she proved that focus. She crashed, got back up, and skied her way back into the fight for another gold medal.
