Eileen Gu Wins Halfpipe Gold, Becomes Most Decorated Freeskier Ever

Women’s freeski halfpipe was one of the last events to take place during the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympic Games after heavy snow caused the competition to be postponed.

Following a qualifying round, twelve skiers, including favorites like Zoe Atkin (GBR), Cassie Sharpe (CAN), Li Fanghui (CHN), Svea Irving (USA), and Eileen Gu, advanced to finals with Atkin, Fanghui, and Sharpe in the top three qualifying spots, respectively.

Earlier in the week, Gu, who was the only female skier to compete in halfpipe, slopestyle, and big air, took silver medals in slopestyle and big air behind Mathilde Gremaud and Megan Oldham, respectively.

Gu’s silver medal in Big Air officially made her the most decorated Olympic freeskier in history, a point she reminded the world in a clip that went viral after a journalist asked, ‘Do you see it as two silver medals gained or two gold medals lost?’ “I’m the most decorated female freeskier in history. I think that answer speaks for itself,” she said, laughing at the question in the clip.

Tap or click below to watch. Keep reading for more.

The 2026 POWDER Photo Annual is here! Look for a print copy on a newsstand near you, or click here to have a copy shipped directly to your front door.

View this post on Instagram

Gu spoke out after Olympic organizers scheduled a halfpipe training day that overlapped with big air training, causing her to miss a whole day of halfpipe training and putting her at a disadvantage as the only woman in the field competing in both.

However, clearly, the training setback didn’t hinder Gu too much. In finals, Gu scrapped her first run before opening her second run up with a 12.5ft 900 Buick. Gu then linked a 900 and a 700 tailgrab, a switch 700, before finishing with huge back-to-back alley-oop flat 500s.

Her second run earned a score of 94.00, which she increased to 94.75 in her final run by cleaning up some of her grabs.

Gu’s gold medal in halfpipe brings her to six career Olympic medals, making her the most decorated Olympic freeskier in history. She revealed during a post-event press conference that she’d gotten news of her grandmother’s passing just after completing her historic run.

Gu posted a tribute to her grandmother on Instagram later, saying that the last time she’d seen her before leaving for the Games, she hadn’t promised her grandmother that she’d win, but had promised to be brave as her grandmother had.

Gu was joined on the women’s halfpipe podium by fellow Chinese competitor, Li Fanghui, who took silver with a score of 93.00, and the top qualifying skier, Zoe Atkin (GBR), who took bronze with a 92.50. Atkin, like Gu, also attends Stanford University.

Sharpe, who qualified in third place, did not compete in the finals after a fall during qualifying, which left her with a head injury.

Related: Which Olympic Skiing Gold Medal Was the Most Impressive? (Poll)