We have known more unbearable suspense. The fault with the lightness and the immense talent of the icon Eileen Gu, untouchable this Friday morning under the icy sun of the Snow Park of Zhangjiakou. After gold in big air, silver in slopestyle, the Chinese native of California flew over the halfpipe event as we had rarely seen, winning gold with such evidence that she achieved the famous triple – unprecedented so far in freeskiing at the Olympics – winning medals in three different competitions. The class!
After qualifying on Thursday where she had already set the bar very high and warned of her stratospheric level, Gu, 18, continued her momentum during this final phase where there was her… and the rest of the world. Once again, she outclassed her rivals, who didn’t have the mind or the tricks to fight.
A chasm between her and the others
With each run, the differences between Gu and the others were stark. Gu goes faster, jumps higher and his tricks are better executed. You only had to see, for example, the gulf between his runs and those of Kelly Sildaru (also overrated?), day and night, even though the Estonian nugget signed 4th place. In terms of amplitude (3.9 meters above the copping, which is already 7.2 m) and speed, the Gu rocket mystified everyone.
During her first run, the darling of the Chinese people took the lead with 93.25 pts, before reaching perfection during her second run, where she scored 95.25 pts, and a third without tricks, just for the sake of it. honor, just for fun (30 pts). Before this final run, the Chinese, last to start, let out a few tears because she knew the game was won. Behind Gu, Canada placed with silver Cassie Sharpe (90.75) and bronze Rachael Karker (87.75 pts).