Did Eileen Gu win gold in the freeski halfpipe? | kare11.com

LIVIGNO, Province of Sondrio — Freestyle skier Eileen Gu won gold Sunday in the women's freeski halfpipe event on the final day of the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics.

The 22-year-old went into the competition with a plan to win her sixth Olympic medal, trying to make it 3-for-3 at two consecutive Winter Games. That's something no one else has done since big air was introduced to the program four years ago.

This is the third medal Gu has won during the 2026 Winter Games. She earned silver in slopestyle and big air.

Gu and Zoe Atkin were two favorites going into Sunday's event. Both were born in the U.S. but compete at the Olympics for other countries. Gu competes for China, and Atkin for Great Britain.

Gu finished in first with a score of 94.75, and Atkin finished in third with a score 92.50.

Team USA's Kate Gray and Svea Irving finished in 10th and 11th place, respectively.

In halfpipe qualifications, Gu shook off a fall to advance to the final. She won gold in the event four years ago in Beijing.

Athletes who live in one country and compete for another are not new in international sports. Throw some Olympic rings on it, then add a high-profile athlete enjoying tremendous success the way Gu has, and it turns into something messy.

“So many athletes compete for a different country," Gu said after Thursday night's qualifying put her in the mix for her third medal of these Games. “People only have a problem with me doing it because they kind of lump China into this monolithic entity, and they just hate China. So it’s not really about what they think it’s about.”

She was responding to a question stemming from the latest comments that drew her into the headlines: U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance told Fox News earlier in the week he would hope someone who benefitted from growing up in the United States, the way Gu has, would want to compete under its flag.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.