California-born Eileen Gu seized Freeski gold for China as she performed her first 1620 of her career on her final jump, with sports f...
California-born Eileen Gu seized Freeski gold for China as she performed her first 1620 of her career on her final jump, with sports fans in the country temporarily crashing the social media platform Weibo as they rushed online to celebrate her win.
Gu, nicknamed the 'Snow Princess', amassed an army of cynics when she spurned Team USA to represent China at the Beijing Games - but she told critics after her win: 'I'm just as American as I am Chinese'.
The 18-year-old, who was born in San Francisco to an American father and Chinese mother, knew she had to perform the 1620 over the 1440 from her earlier jump, to win gold and beat France's Tess Ledeux and Swiss star Mathilde Gremaud to land gold.
Her mother Yan Gu , who also coaches her daughter, was at the foot of the jump and advised her doing the 1440 (four turns in mid air) again would at least mean silver.
But Eileen, cheered on by local supporters waving Chinese flags, went for the big one and triumphantly landed the 1620, which is a four and a half rotations.
Gold medalist Eileen Gu of Team China celebrates during the Women's Freestyle Skiing Freeski Big Air flower ceremony on February 8
California-born Eileen Gu seized Freeski gold for China as she performed her first 1620 of her career on her final jump, with sports fans in the country temporarily crashing the social media platform Weibo as they rushed online to celebrate her win
Ledeux, with a combined score of 187.5, needed one point to beat Gu to gold, but landed awkwardly on one ski and was docked points leaving her sobbing at the finish.
Gu's third jump and perfect landing, saw her score 94.5 making her total score 188.25 putting her in first over Ledeux who totalled 187.50. Gremaud secured the bronze.
The American-born Gu had never landed the double cork 1620 - a move in which skiers spin 4 1/2 times while rotating twice off-axis while 20-some feet in the air. Not in practice. Not in competition.
As Gu won her gold medal, praise for the San Franciscan quite literally overwhelmed the Chinese internet.
Sina Weibo, the massive social network that is similar to Twitter found its servers temporarily overloaded, according to Chinese media. Of the top 10 trending topics on the platform, five were dedicated to adoration for the 18-year-old champion.
'Gu Ailing is a genius young woman right?' was one trending topic referencing her Chinese name.
'Dad was Harvard, Mom was Peking University, Stanford, Grandmother was an athlete. She's beautiful and classy,' said one post recirculated 86,000 times.
The teenager, who is undoubtedly the Winter Olympics poster girl after her Vogue magazine and Paris fashion appearances, did not allow her glittering lifestyle to overshadow her sporting prowess.
Britain's Kirsty Muir finished fifth and crash landed on her final jump saying she 'had to go for it!'
A crowd of spectators gathered spontaneously in front of a big TV screen in Wangfujing, a famed shopping district in central Beijing, on Tuesday morning.
'It's very cheering. She's of Chinese origin and has returned to China. I feel proud of her,' said Beijing resident Jiang Yu, 36.
Capacity was limited at 5,000-seat Big Air Shougang - a shuttered steel mill that Beijing has converted into an eerie-yet-serene park, culture hub and sports center. The reaction still told the story.
Eileen Gu of Team China reacts to winning the gold medal and the Freeski Big Air final
Silver medalist Tess Ledeux (L) of France is comforted by bronze medalist Mathilde Gremaud (C) of Switzerland and gold medalist Eileen Gu of China after the Women's Freestyle Skiing Big Air final at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games on February 8
'I just cannot believe what just happened. I was guaranteed a podium spot when I dropped in (for her final jump).
'I was thinking, 'Should I improve on my previous one and go for the silver or should I whip out this random trick I'd never done before and go for gold?'.'
She added: 'That was a trick I have never attempted before. Yes, I've thought about it a lot, but to put it down on my third run in the first Olympic freeski final in history means the world to me.
'Even if I didn't land it, I felt it would send a message out to the world and hopefully encourage more girls to break their own boundaries.'
Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai, a three-time Olympic champion, and IOC president Thomas Bach saw her land gold.
Peng made the rare public appearance a day after saying in a controlled interview that the sexual assault allegations she made against a former high-ranking member of China's ruling Communist Party were 'an enormous misunderstanding.'
Her responses - delivered in front of a Chinese Olympic official - left unanswered questions about her well-being and what exactly happened.
Asked if she shared international concern about Peng's safety, Gu skirted around the topic, saying she was 'really happy' Peng attended and honored that a star from a major sport like tennis came to see 'niche sports like freeskiing.'
'I'm really grateful that she's, yeah, happy and healthy and out here doing her thing again,' Gu said before a room full of Chinese volunteers and media, who hushed when Peng's name came up.
Fans celebrate as they gather to watch freestyle skier Gu Ailing Eileen of China winning the gold medal in the Big Air competition during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, at a ski resort in Beijing on February 8
Gu is pictured with her Chinese mother, Yan. She was born in San Francisco and grew up there
Gu hit back at her social media abusers as she celebrated the gold medal.
She said: 'If people don't like me then that's their loss... They are never going to win the Olympics.'
Gu, who lifted the host country to the top of the medals table at the Beijing Olympics with a freeski Big Air gold on Tuesday, remained evasive on whether she was still holding an American passport.
China does not allow dual nationality, and state media have previously reported that the 18-year-old renounced her U.S. citizenship after she became a Chinese national at the age of 15.
Gu would not confirm that on Tuesday.
'So I grew up spending 25-30% (of my time) in China. I'm fluent in Mandarin and English and fluent culturally in both,' she answered, when asked if she was still an American citizen.
'So coming here, I really feel there was a sense of coming home. I feel just as American as Chinese. I don't feel I'm taking advantage of one or another. They understand that my mission is to foster a connection between countries and not a divisive force.'
When the reporter asked again, the news conference moderator interjected: 'Next question, please.'
Gu, who lifted the host country to the top of the medals table at the Beijing Olympics with a freeski Big Air gold on Tuesday, remained evasive on whether she was still holding an American passport
Eileen Gu said her critics did not share the empathy she had and that she refused to bow down to them
The fashion model and incoming Stanford University student whose Weibo following has ballooned to almost three million from just under two million on Monday, says she feels at home in China.
'There's like a tower here you can see from the top of the course. And I'm also seeing it from my house in Beijing,' she explained, where her face is ubiquitous in advertising.
Gu told her critics: 'I am not trying to keep anyone happy. I am an 18 year old girl living my life and trying to have a great time.'
She added: It doesn't really matter if other people are happy or not because I feel as though I am doing my best.
'I'm enjoying the entire process, and I'm using my voice to create as much positive change as I can for the voices who will listen to me in an area that is personal and relevant to myself.
'I know that I have a good heart and I know my reasons for making the decisions I do are based on a greater common interest and something I feel is for the greater good.
'If other people don't really believe that that's where I'm coming from, then that just reflects that they do not have the empathy to empathise with a good heart, perhaps because they don't share the same kind of morals that I do and, in that sense, I'm not going to waste my time trying to placate people who are, one, uneducated and, two, probably never going to experience the kind of joy and gratitude and love that I have the great fortune to experience on a daily basis.'
Eileen Gu and her grandmother are pictured here
She said her critics did not share the empathy she had and that she refused to bow down to them.
For her fans in China, her win saw hundreds of millions of people rush to Weibo as they celebrated her triumph - a move which temporarily crashed the site.
Her win dominated searches on the site, where seven of the top 10 trending topics were about Gu. Meanwhile, the hashtag 'Gu Ailing won the gold medal' received more than 300 million views within one hour.
In 2019, China relaxed rules that had been in force for more than a decade barring national team athletes from taking part in commercial activities without approval, paving the way for Gu to become the face of Chinese brands from Bank of China and China Mobile to Mengniu Dairy and Luckin Coffee.
Eileen Gu attends The 2021 Met Gala Celebrating In America: A Lexicon Of Fashion at Metropolitan Museum of Art on September 13, 2021 in New York City
But despite celebrating her gold medal, she continued to avoid the burning question which has hung over her Olympics on whether she is still a US citizen.
She brushed aside reporters' who quizzed her on the matter.
She had competed for the American Ski and Snowboard team but she announced in 2019 that she would represent China, where her mother was born.
Gu suffered a torrent of abuse on social media even as she competed.
'I did everything that I possibly could and I sent a message out to the world about my character, about my spirit, and about my mission, which has always been to break my own boundaries' she said.
Gu added: 'When I come to Beijing, I see the CCTV tower near my home, I eat Beijing food and I feel a strong sense of coming home. I am both grateful to the USA and China. They are both so supportive. Both experiences in the two countries made me who I am. I am American when I am in America, and I am Chinese when I am in China.
'I especially want to use the sport as a force to connect people in the two countries instead of dividing them. My ultimate goal is to represent the sport to the world. Even if there is only one girl watching this in front of the TV and she gets to know freestyle skiing because of this, I would believe I have realised my goal.'
Ledeux congratulated Gu and said: 'Eileen killed it again today. I really skied my best today. I could not have done better.'
Hugely popular in China, Gu has had a better Olympics so far than Zhu Yi, the figure skater who gave up American citizenship in 2018 to compete for China and was blasted on Weibo when she fell during her short programme in the team event on Sunday.
The hashtag 'Zhu Yi has fallen' later disappeared from Weibo.
Gu offered her support.
'I just met Zhu a few days ago. I went to see her training. She's such a nice person. She's amazing. Whoever qualifies the Olympics is already amazing,' she said.
'Making mistakes under huge pressure is part of sports. We should have sportsmanship and we can't always do our best on the platform, but the most important thing is she's safe and she enjoys the process.
'Of course everyone hopes she can do better, but she is the one who hopes she could do better the most. I hope people can understand her more.'
It was only a month ago that Ledeux became the first woman to land a 1620 in competition, stomping one down while taking gold at the Winter X Games. The French 20-year-old boldly pulled off another in the first of three rounds Tuesday, immediately setting the bar beyond where anyone else had previously reached.
Gu hit a clean double cork 1440 in her first run, then registered a safe-but-stylish double cork 1080 on Run 2. By the time her third jump came around, she was already assured of at least bronze.
Gu said she briefly considered trying to improve upon her 1440 but the math said the only way to close the gap on Ledeux was to go for the 1620.
She shrieked the moment her skis hit the landing, floating backward down what remained of the slope with her hands first over her head, then covering her face. She crumpled to her knees when her score of 94.5 was announced - good for a combined total of 188.25, just clear of Ledeux's 187.5. Swiss skier Mathilde Gremaud took bronze.
Ledeux tried to improve her switch 1440 with her last attempt but came up short. She said via interpreter that Gu is 'extremely competitive' and an 'amazing athlete,' but she also grumbled that Gu had been in Beijing practicing at the Big Air Shougang venue for weeks before the Games - a perk of being with the host country.
'What I know is that she got lucky and that's only fair, she was able to train in the venues before everyone else and that probably made a difference today,' Ledeux said.
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