Eileen Gu ended her inaugural Olympic appearance with her strongest event-the halfpipe and didn’t disappoint.
She scored a 95.25 to easily take the gold medal, capping a sensational debut at the winter games which saw her also win gold in the big air event and a silver in the slopestyle.
CNN reports the San Franciscan took the big prize on the strength of her second run. The gold medal had already been clinched even before her final run.
“It has been more than I could have imagined,” she told NBC. “I cannot believe I’m walking away from my first Olympics with two gold medals and the silver medal. Eileen Gu, three-time Olympic medalist. That’s just insane for me to think about.”
NBC reports Gu is the first freestyle skier to win three medals in a single Womter Olympics.
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Canadians Cassie Sharpe and Rachael Karker won silver and bronze.
Team USA’s Hanna Faulhaber, Brita Sigourney, and Carly Margulies finished sixth, 10th and 11th.
Gu won her gold representing China, her mother’s home country. It’s a decision that has subjected her to criticism from some in the United States. However, she has been welcomed with open arms in China, a country of 1.4 billion people where her likeness is plastered on billboards, commercials, and even shopping bags, reported Yahoo.
Gu explained she wanted to be a role model for millions of young girls in China.
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