Having spent much of this trip in defence mode, Eileen Gu went on the attack on Sunday.
It was to the detriment of the field, Team GB’s Zoe Atkin included, that they found the American-turned-Chinese superstar in no mood to settle for a third silver medal at these Games on Sunday.
By taking gold in the halfpipe, she not only defended her title from Beijing four years ago, but also silenced a few people, among them the US vice president JD Vance, who in recent days has reignited the debate around Gu’s transient state of nationality.
Gu’s response on Thursday was to thank him and her performance on the closing day in Livigno drove a nail into the point – her best run of 94.75 points stole the show, and her second best of 94 would have been good for gold in its own right.
Atkin? She finished in bronze on 92.5, matching the medal her sister won in Pyeongchang eight years ago. Between her and Gu was a second Chinese athlete, Li Fanghui.
But the day belonged to Gu. Already the most marketable face at the Olympics, a freestyle skier with a foot in two huge markets and endorsements worth north of $20m (£14.84m) a year, this had been a complicated stay in Italy for the 22-year-old.
Zoe Atkin won Team GB’s fifth medal of the Winter Olympics as she took bronze in the freeski halfpipe final
Eileen Gu won the gold medal having taken silver in the slopestyle and big air at this Games
Having won two golds for China in 2022, and been renamed the Snow Princess, her silvers in the slopestyle and big air felt underwhelming. A brave journalist asked about that earlier in the week and was scorched in return by a chilly retort.
But there was no picking at this fifth Olympic medal, which further enhanced Gu’s status as the most decorated freestyle skier in history – a description she reached for in reply to that journalist, actually. For the record, his question had been perfectly reasonable.
In any case, her success and decisions have left her open to all manner of questions and as a Stanford student, she backs herself to answer them. On the halfpipe, Atkin, the X Games champion and world gold medallist, asked some hard ones of her own.
As with qualifying, Atkin made her mark early. She was 12th down the pipe and straight to the top of the board with her first of three runs, judged at 90.5 points.
The details within it were revealing. Her highest jump was 4.5metres and her average was 2.7m, the latter greater than anyone else’s peak. That is usually her difference – the more you fly, the more room for your tricks, and come the close of run one she had 5.5 points on silver, held by Amy Fraser of Canada.
Gu? She landed awkwardly early on, having also fallen on her way to slopestyle and big air silvers here, and at 30 points was slow from the blocks. She was greeted at the bottom by her mother, who happened to be wearing a large panda hat, and the daughter managed a grin.
Of course, those of us who have sat in her press conferences know that there can be menace behind the smile. A savage competitor, too.
That was shown on the second descent. Gu, the only woman capable of going close to Atkin’s height off the slopes, responded with back-to-back alley oops (difficult rotations that run counter to the approach, apparently), and such was the difficulty, she was rated 94, despite missing a grab.
Atkin (in action during the final) matched the medal her sister Izzy won eight years ago
She was happier this time. Gold was in her hands.
By the time Atkin was sent down, pressure had been increased by Gu’s Chinese team-mate Li Fanghui, who had moved into silver with a 91. Atkin upped the difficulty accordingly and with it, flew even higher – 5.4m at one point – but with the risk came the fall. Off her fifth trick, she landed heavily and lost her skis.
With the third and final run, Gu stretched her lead by fractions, improving to 94.75, and Li jumped to 93. Only Atkin could catch them and she went big. She ‘sent it’, to use the parlance. Peaking at 5m, all tricks landing cleanly, she stepped up to 92.5 for bronze, matching her sister but not Gu, who dropped to her knees in the snow.
She might not admit it freely, but gold means far more than silver.
