Ailing (Eileen) Gu impresses in freeski halfpipe qualifying runs at Beijing 2022 - As it happened and results
The third and final event for the Chinese freestyle skiing sensation is here. Gu will be aiming to book her spot in the women's final, with her Grandmother watching.
Freestyle Skiing
Ailing (Eileen) Gu got her women’s freeski halfpipe campaign open with an impressive first qualifying run at Beijing 2022, her final event of these Winter Olympic Games.
The Chinese star was greeted with warm applause by the locals in the crowd as she took to the Secret Garden pipe for qualifying, which involves two runs at the Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou.
Run one of two - Gu leads the way
Hanna Faulhaber from the USA got us underway with a solid opening score of 84.25 at the very start of qualifying.
Canada's Rachael Karker trumped that with 88.50.
Now it's time for Gu's opening run... it's clean from the 2021 World Champion, and scores 93.75 to move top of the rankings.
The PyeongChang 2018 gold medallist Cassie Sharpe was given 86.25 by the judges for her opener.
Former World Champion and Youth Olympic Games (YOG) gold medallist Kelly Sildaru of Estonia also performed solidly, scoring 87.50 on her 20th birthday!
Nobody else gets near the 90-point mark, so after the first run Gu leads, Karker is second and Sildaru third.
But they'll all be looking for more in the second runs, where the qualifiers will be decided. Each competitor's best score is counted towards the final rankings, and the top 12 progress to the final 24 hour later.
Run two of two - Gu goes even better, qualifies for final
Faulhaber gets the final runs underway, but the American can't improve on her initial score. She's currently in seventh, with 19 athletes still to go.
Karker also puts down a clean second run to improve on her score, and all-but guarantee her final spot for Friday.
And Gu follows it with an even better performance. She knew her opening run should be enough to see her progress, and with pressure off pulls out a 95.50 score to move further clear at the top. Amazing.
Zoe Atkin of Great Britain scores 86.75 to improve her qualifying hopes.
The next few skiers can't trouble the top few places, and that means Gu has officially qualified for the final. She's currently still in top spot, which would mean being the last competitor to go in Friday's final... but there are still several big names to compete.
Sildaru doesn't take part in the second run, knowing that her opening effort will be enough (plus as it's her birthday she probably wants to go have fun!).
Brita Sigourney of the US improves on her first round score to safely book a final spot too.
And qualifying ends with no other skier scoring in the 90s. Gu is the only athlete to do that and is comfortably top of the rankings.
The 18-year old speaks to Olympics.com right after her run and says it's been an extra special day for her, with her Grandma able to watch as she booked her final spot.
Women's freestyle ski halfpipe qualification - Full results - 17 February
Top 12 skiers progress to the final.
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GU Ailing (Eileen) - CHN
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KARKER Rachael - CAN
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SILDARU Kelly - EST
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ATKIN Zoe - GBR
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ZHANG Kexin CHN
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SHARPE Cassie CAN
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LI Fanghui CHN
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SIGOURNEY Brita USA
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FAULHABER Hanna USA
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MARGULIES Carly USA
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FRASER Amy CAN
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CAKMAKLI Sabrina
The remaining 8 skiers do not qualify for the final:
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LOGAN Devin - USA
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GLAZKOVA Alexandra - ROC
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SUZUKI Saori - JPN
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WU Meng - CHN
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KIM Daeun - KOR
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McMILLAN Chloe - NZL
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BARUGH Anja - NZL
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JANG Yujin - KOR
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Freestyle skiing prodigy Gu is one of the most-talked-about athletes at Beijing 2022. The 18-year-old has already won one gold medal at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, after a spectacular showing in the big air. On 15 February she added a silver medal in the slopestyle competition, finishing behind winner Mathilde Gremaud of Switzerland.
The halfpipe is her third and final event of these Games.
Ailing (Eileen) Gu schedule - Women's freestyle ski halfpipe qualification - 17 February
Women's Freeski Halfpipe Qualification Run 1 of 2.
09:30 - 10:19am (China Standard Time)
Women's Freeski Halfpipe Qualification Run 2 of 2.
10:21 - 11:10 (China Standard Time)
The final takes place 24 hours later, from 09:30 local time on Friday 18th February in Zhangjiakou.
Where to watch Ailing (Eileen) Gu compete
From the Opening Ceremony to athlete action, here's where and how you can watch the Winter Games in your region via the Official Olympic Broadcast Partners