Eileen Gu wins silver medal in big air at 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics
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Controversial big air ski star Eileen Gu, who is American-born but competes for China, was unable to defend her gold medal at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games on Monday night.
In the women’s freeski big air competition, Gu took silver and Canada’s Megan Oldham won gold.
Gu scored 90.00 on her first run and was placed third on the list of competitors due to Oldham and Austrian Lara Wolf having better scores.
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Gold medalist Megan Oldham of Team Canada, silver medalist Ailing Eileen Gu of Team China and bronze medalist Flora Tabanelli of Team Italy pose for a photo at the Women’s Freeski Big Air medal ceremony on day ten of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Livigno Snow Park in Livigno, Italy on February 16, 2026. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
However, Gu’s mistake was that he failed to keep the tail of his ski cleanly on the second run and his descent was shaky, resulting in a score of 61.25.
At this point, Gu was out of the medal spot with one run remaining. In this competition, each skier’s best two scores are combined.
In the final run, Gu managed to score 89.00 points, which earned him 179.00 points. This was enough for second place, but in the end Oldham had a slight advantage of 1.75 points over Gu.
CONTROVERSIAL OLYMPIAN EILEEN GU IS UPESTED BY ‘REALLY UNFAIR’ WINTER GAMES SCHEDULE
Italian Flora Tabanelli completed the competition with a bronze medal.
However, Gu was not upset with the result, pointing out that he had won five Olympic medals in his two appearances at the Games. He held his first in Beijing in 2022, where he took gold in big air and halfpipe, while also winning silver in Slopestyle.
At this year’s Games, Gu won silver in Slopestyle, with the halfpipe race remaining for her later this week.
“‘Five-time Olympic medalist’ has a nice connotation,” Gu told reporters after the event.
Before that medal event, Gu called out the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) about how tight the Olympic schedule was for him, saying it prevented him from getting the proper training he needed for a freeskiing event.
Gold medalist Megan Oldham of Team Canada, silver medalist Ailing Eileen Gu of Team China and bronze medalist Flora Tabanelli of Team Italy pose for a victory selfie at the Women’s Freeski Big Air medal ceremony on day ten of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Livigno Snow Park in Livigno, Italy on February 16, 2026. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Gu is the sport’s only three-sport athlete and says competing on Monday night made it impossible for him to properly prepare for the qualifying round of the halfpipe final, which begins Thursday.
“I am disappointed in FIS,” he said. “I think the Olympics should be the epitome of passion, and being able to do something beyond the ordinary should be celebrated rather than punished.
“I think it’s really unfair. To be completely honest with you, I think it’s punishing excellence. Because I’m dared to enter three races and that makes it completely impossible to train fairly for the third race.”
Gu became a controversial figure in action sports in 2019 when he decided to ski for China instead of the United States in the upcoming 2022 Olympics. He grew up in California and attended Stanford, although his mother was a first-generation Chinese immigrant to the United States.
Gu said at the time that it was an “incredibly difficult” decision and that he was not fond of the Americans’ decision, given the geopolitical tensions between the US and China.
Silver medalist Hasta Eileen Gu of Team People’s Republic of China watches the Women’s Freeski Big Air medal ceremony on the tenth day of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Livigno Snow Park in Livigno, Italy, on February 16, 2026. (Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
Gu, meanwhile, has been celebrated in China for his selection, but one big question remains as he remains one of the sport’s best.
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Although China does not allow its athletes to have dual citizenship and competitors are required to have Chinese citizenship, did Gu give up his American citizenship? He did not answer the question.
While Gu is looking forward to Thursday’s halfpipe qualifiers, the final of the event will be held this Saturday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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