Olympian Eileen Gu wins Record 15th Freeski World Cup at Cardrona
The Freeski World Cup season kicks off with Gu earning her record 15th win across halfpipe, slopestyle and big air.
Freestyle Skiing
It was a blustery opening to the 2024-25 World Cup Freeski season on Tuesday, 9 September at New Zealand’s Cardrona Alpine Resort, but that didn’t stop the People’s Republic of China’s Eileen Gu from dominating the contest. Gu qualified first and took the lead early on in finals to finish with a 96.00 and a victory run on her final pass through the halfpipe.
This win at the World Cup opener marks a historic 15th World Cup wins for the now 21-year-old Gu across halfpipe, slopestyle and Big Air, setting a new FIS Freestyle men’s and women’s World Cup record.
Gu, who dominated the Olympic Games Beijing 2022 winning gold in halfpipe and Big Air, with the silver in Slopestyle, said of her historic season-opener win, “It means so much. I've had my eye on this one for a while now and I think for me, skiing is always about pushing the next level.”
Gu added, “It's so special to win here where I had my first halfpipe world Cup five years ago now.”
In that World Cup halfpipe debut in 2019, the young Gu finished second behind China’s Zhang Kexin. This win marks her first at Cardrona.
Eileen Gu’s win at Cardrona marks a historic 15 Word Cup wins
Eileen Gu’s incredible record 15 first place finishes began with a slopestyle win at Italy’s Seiser Am resort in 2019. In the following five years, she added eight slopestyle and halfpipe wins at the Calgary Snow Rodeo, a 2021 Big Air win at Steamboat, Colorado, two Grand Prix wins in the halfpipe at Copper Mountain, Colorado, and two more halfpipe wins at the Grand Prix at Mammoth Mountain, California and China’s Secret Garden Resort, finishing with her win in the halfpipe at Cardrona.
Following Cardrona, Gu now leads the Women's World Cup halfpipe standings with 100 points, followed by Zhang Kexin with 80 points. Canada’s Rachael Karker sits in third with 60 points.
Gu preceded this World Cup opener running the Paris 2024 Marathon Pour Tous
Gu served as an official torch bearer ahead of Paris 2024, where also ran the public marathon held on 11 August. Gu shared that she only had three weeks of training leading into the marathon, but ever the athlete, she ran the course in 3:24.37. She shared her enthusiasm for the new Marathon Pour Tous on her Instagram, saying, “But seriously, what an incredible way to promote the Olympic spirit! @olympics @paris2024 thank you for the opportunity.”
Gu is balancing her World Cup competition season with her coursework at Stanford University, speaking engagements and modeling.
The next World Cup is the Big Air at Chur Switzerland on 18 October, followed by slopestyle at Austria's Stubai Resort 22-23 November.