Eileen Gu forced to wait as heavy snow postpones Olympic halfpipe final
This is the final shot at gold for China’s defending champion, who has won two silver medals so far but failed to top the podium
Eileen Gu was forced to wait for her final chance to win an Olympic gold at the Milan-Cortina Games as heavy snow forced organisers to postpone the women’s freeski halfpipe final.
The event at Livigno Snow Park, high in the Italian Alps, was originally scheduled to take place on Saturday evening. But hours of relentless snow and poor visibility made it impossible to hold the competition.
The final has been pushed back to Sunday morning, the final day of competition in Italy, with better weather forecast.
China’s defending champion Gu, who came to Italy seeking a clean sweep of three golds in her events, has so far failed to top the podium, winning silver medals in slopestyle and big air.
The 22-year-old finished fifth in qualifying for the halfpipe final despite a fall on her first run.
“My working hypothesis is that I need to reach a certain threshold of pressure to thrive, and it’s almost like the first run of qualies is not enough,” said Gu, who won two golds and a silver at the 2022 Beijing Games.