Defending Olympic gold medalist Eileen Gu brushes off fall and advances to final in halfpipe

LIVIGNO, Italy (AP) — The first thing Eileen Gu thought when she hit the bottom of the halfpipe halfway through her run Thursday night: “Of course this would happen right now,” she said. 

In a remarkable show of Olympic consistency, Gu’s fall in qualifying made her 3 for 3 at the Games: That’s three events, three falls in qualifying, three clutch comebacks to secure her spot in the final.

Next, she gets to go for her third medal, and sixth over the span of two Olympics. She’s looking to defend her title in halfpipe after taking silver in slopestyle and big air following equally drama-rich affairs in both of those qualifying rounds.

“I wish I knew,” she said when asked why this keeps happening. “It’s like, why do I keep doing this? I want to get to the bottom of this, but ideally, not experimentally.“

The trick the 22-year-old freeskier fell on was a 720-degree spin that started with a right-side turn down the mountain. It’s a jump she can do in her sleep, one part of the “B” material she pulls out for qualifying rounds. 

But this time, Gu — born in America but competing for her mother’s homeland of China — clipped the top of the halfpipe. Her left ski popped off and she slid down to the bottom. 

After retrieving the ski and making it to the bottom of the hill, she looked into the camera peering into the Kiss and Cry zone and said “The qualies curse.“

Later, she conceded she lacked a killer instinct as she revved up for the start of her third event in 13 days — the only skier in the 21-woman field attempting that sort of schedule.

She turned it around moments before dropping in for the decisive run.

“I needed to become the hunter, not the prey, if that makes sense,” Gu said. 

Working the same tricks as she did on her first try, Gu’s ski actually caught the side of the halfpipe on the same trick in the second run, but that didn’t create a wreck. 

She ended up qualifying fifth, which means she’ll drop in the middle of the pack on Saturday, where she’ll compete for the final Olympic medals being awarded at the Livigno Snow Park. 

One challenger will be Canada’s Amy Fraser, the only skier to beat Gu in a major contest since Gu won the Olympic gold in 2022. 

The strongest challenge could very well come from Zoe Atkin, an American-born skier who competes for Britain and finished first in qualifying with none of the drama Gu delivered. 

“I was definitely super-nervous,” Atkin said. “I definitely feel like qualifying is sometimes more nerve-wracking than finals.”

She should talk. 

Way back on Feb. 7, Gu opened her Olympics by falling off the very first rail in the very first run of the slopestyle qualifying. She came back an hour later and put down a strong run, saying she would’ve bet it all on herself to come through. 

On Feb. 14, Gu bit it on second jump in big air qualifying, turning her last try into an all-or-nothing affair. 

Because she landed it, she got to the final where she won her second silver medal. It also cost her a day of training in the halfpipe for an event she hadn’t been near in more than two months. 

On Saturday, she’ll be in a three-run final, which will make it 16 trips down the mountain over 15 days. 

“I’m just trying to hold on at this point,” Gu said. “I’m exhausted, and the thing is, no judge is going to give me extra points for being good at rails (in slopestyle), and no judge is giving me extra points because I missed a training.”

Win or lose Saturday, she knows what her next move will be.

“Tang ping,” she said. That’s a Chinese phrase for “lie flat.”

___

AP Sports Writer Joseph Wilson contributed.

___

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics