BEIJING, China — Eileen Gu has become the first action sports athlete to win three medals at a Winter Olympic Games.
The American-born skier who is competing for China clinched the record when she won gold in the freeski halfpipe Friday morning in Beijing.
She also won gold in big air and silver in slopestyle. China had never won a medal in any of those three disciplines before Beijing.
Gu easily claimed the top spot, scoring a 93.25 and taking the lead on her first run. She never lost that lead, and performed even stronger in her second run, scoring a 95.25 and hitting nearly 14 feet on her opening rightside 900 cork Buick grab. Gu also added back-to-back alley-oop flat spins at the end of the run.
Watch Gu's gold-medal-winning run:
Canadians Cassie Sharpe (90.75) and Rachael Karker (87.75) won silver and bronze, respectively.
Following the event, Gu admitted she was exhausted and said she was excited to "put her phone on airplane mode" and finally rest.
“From the Opening Ceremony until tomorrow I have had no days off," Gu said after winning. "I'm skiing every single day, I'm competing every single day of three events—the only person who's made finals in all three events. It's definitely not easy, but I ran a half-marathon every week over the summer to prepare."
Team USA athletes Hanna Faulhaber ranked sixth with a score of 85.25, Brita Sigourney placed 10th with a score of 70.75, and Carly Margulies came in 11th with a score of 61.00.
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