Gu warms up for Olympics by retaining her Laax ski slopestyle title despite crash
LAAX, Switzerland (AP) — Two-time Olympic champion Eileen Gu shook off a crash and celebrated her second straight slopestyle title at the Laax Open on Saturday.
Gu had already locked up victory before she set out on her second run. She tried a double cork 1080 — that’s two head-over-heels flips — but fell hard on her right side with one ski and her poles flying off after coming up short on a rotation.
After gathering herself on the slope, she skied gently down to the finish and appeared not to be seriously hurt. She smiled and waved to the camera when she stood by second-placed Marin Hamill of the U.S. and third-placed Lara Wolf of Austria.
“I’m OK,” Gu said. “I don’t really like taking a victory lap, so I wanted to just do something to keep pushing and show my best out here. But that’s the sport, sometimes you fall, so it’s OK.”
Slopestyle is the only event where Gu fell short of gold at the Beijing Games four years ago and will enter the Milan Cortina Winter Games next month as the favorite to add it to her Olympic medals collection. She claimed gold in halfpipe and big air — in addition to her silver in slopestyle — in 2022.
The American-born star who competes for China went last in the lineup thanks to her leading qualifying score. She didn’t need to land the second run after nobody surpassed the 85.13 she earned over her flawless opening trip through the course’s rails and jumps.
Home favorite Mathilde Gremaud, the Swiss skier who edged Gu for gold in 2022, finished seventh.
At age 22, Gu’s win was her record-extending 20th World Cup career victory and her fourth in slopestyle.
“That’s so special. First of all, I can’t believe it’s been that many,” she said. “Secondly, I think every one gets harder and I think people sometimes take it for granted.”
In the men’s slopestyle event, Birk Ruud of Norway won his third straight Laax title.
Freestyle skiing and snowboarding at Milan Cortina will be held in Livigno, a three-hour drive northeast of Milan in the Italian Alps. Snowboarding starts on Feb. 5 with freestyle skiing commencing two days later.
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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics