LIVIGNO, Italy (AP) — Maybe the most staggering thing of Eileen Gu’s entire gold medal-winning day was she lost her balance on the first trick in her first run.
Perhaps she is mortal? But maybe not as Gu defended her Olympic ski halfpipe title on Sunday to make it six medals in six events over her Winter Games career.
“She is ‘Wonder Woman,’” New Zealand’s Mischa Thomas said.
The 22-year-old Gu, American-born but competing for her mother’s homeland of China, is already the most decorated freeskier in the short history of the sport at the Olympics. She also captured two silver medals at the Milan Cortina Games, to pair with two golds and a silver from the Beijing Games.
“The reason I love the records so much is that it’s not about man or woman,” Gu said. “I’m the most decorated freeskier of all time, male or female. … That’s a testament to competitive strength, it’s mental strength. It’s being able to perform under pressure. It has nothing to (do with) if you’re a boy or a girl.”
