Ailing (Eileen) Gu "breaks the cycle" in reaching freeski halfpipe final at Beijing 2022 with Grandma watching
Chinese freestyle booked her spot in the women's final with an impressive qualifying performance at the Winter Olympics, with her Grandmother watching.
Freestyle Skiing
Ailing (Eileen) Gu safely booked a place in the women’s freeski halfpipe final at Beijing 2022, her final event of these Winter Games.
Gu put down two impressive runs of 93.75 and 95.50 in qualifying on Thursday (17 February), and the Chinese star will be looking to claim her third medal of the Games in the final 24-hours later.
"I'm really happy that I finally landed my first run," she told Olympics.com afterwards.
"I don't know what it's been with these Olympics, but every quali's, every finals it's come down to the last run, but today I woke up and was like, 'Today's the day I break the cycle.'
"So I'm really happy that I landed my first run, and then that gave me energy, the boost to push a little bit harder in the second run."
Gu told us that this one was extra special for her, due to her Grandmother being able to watch an event live for the first time.
"Yeah, my Grandma is here," she shared.
"She's never watched me compete before, so I'm pretty excited. She's always saying, 'Be safe, be safe, be safe.' That's her biggest thing. I think she'll be proud of me no matter what, and for that I'm forever grateful, but of course I want to do my best and I want to be able to share that with her."
The freestyle ski sensation went viral earlier in the Winter Olympics after eating lunch while waiting for her scores in the slopestyle event. She claimed silver in that discipline in Zhangjiakou, and gold in the big air in Beijing.
The halfpipe is her third and final event of these Games. The final takes place from 09:30 local time on Friday 18th February in Zhangjiakou.
Get the latest from all the events in China in our Live Blog updates.
The final takes place 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