Caps off season with flawless halfpipe run
Chinese skier Gu Ailing, better known as Eileen Gu, ended this Freestyle Ski World Cup season with a big smile on her face since she pinned down a gold in the women’s halfpipe competition at Mammoth Mountain, the US, on Saturday. With her excellent performance during the season, she harvested the very first crystal globe of her career.
At the last stop of this season’s halfpie game, Mammoth Mountain, Gu performed excellently on a pair of solid runs, finishing with a score of 97.5, a personal best. In an interview with media after the competition, the skier said she was “blown away” by the result.
Not only did Gu set a new personal record in the halfpipe event, the talented skier also received a crystal globe trophy for her total of four championship titles won at Copper Mountain and Mammoth Mountain in the US and twice in Calgary, Canada.
A beloved skier nicknamed the “Ice Princess” by fans in China, Gu’s exceptional performance has become a hot topic earning more than 100 million views on China’s Twitter-like Sina Weibo.
Besides sending her congratulations, many people online expressed that they could not quite keep pace with Gu’s winning speed, suggesting that her consecutive successes were both amazing and surprising.
“Ok, I got it, every princess has to have a crystal piece,” posted one netizen on Sina Weibo.
Winning the crystal globe was definitely not the only recent highlight for Gu. During the season, she also claimed two victories within three days in Canada at the beginning of the new year. Also, the 18-year-old became the world’s first to land a freeski double cork 1440 during training.
Such achievements increased Chinese fans’ faith in her potential to attain multiple golds at the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympic Games.
“She has done nothing but win. I hope she can keep this momentum during the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympic Games,” posted another netizen on Sina Weibo.
The US-born star that is going to represent China at the Winter Games became a Chinese national announced by her in 2019, and can speak fluent Chinese. Going by the handle “Frog Princess,” she has accumulated more than 1.27 million fans on China’s Sina Weibo and has become a poster girl for media productions to fuel promotions for the Games.
She collaborated with Chinese super idol Jackson Yee in an Olympic short film called A Date with Snow and Ice that ignited many young fans’ passion toward the Games.
“Maybe when I wake up, there will be more news about another gold she has won,” posted a netizen.
Gu Ailing of Team China competes in the women’s freeski halfpipe competition at Mammoth Mountain on January 8, 2022 in Mammoth, California. Photo: VCG
