China's Gu Ailing made history on Friday by becoming the first freestyle skier of any gender to win three medals at a single Winter Olympics, after she claimed her second gold in the women's halfpipe at the Beijing Games.
Earlier, she had won gold in the women's freestyle skiing Big Air, the first time for the Chinese delegation in the event, in addition to taking silver in the slopestyle.
"The most important gold medal in my heart is always to spread the sport to young girls via the platform of the Winter Olympics and change their perception about freestyle skiing," Gu said.
The 18-year-old, who has become a household name in China during the Beijing Games, secured victory after her second run in the halfpipe finals at Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou on Friday morning. Defending Olympic champion Cassie Sharpe of Canada took the silver and her teammate and first-time Olympian Rachael Karker took the bronze.
Another two Chinese athletes, Li Fanghui and Zhang Kexin, also made their best performances and finished in fifth and seventh place respectively. Although Zhang fell and had to be helped by medical staff while attempting a 1080, she won respect from the spectators and her fellow competitors.
Gu was getting ready for her final run on the top of the halfpipe when she learned about the news that she had already won her second gold medal with the score she earned in the second run in the final. Her victory brought the total number of Team China's gold medals at Beijing 2022 to a historic eight.
"I feel the relief as my dreams have come true," said the Olympic debutant. "It's been two straight weeks of the most intense highs and lows I've ever experienced in my life."
Her third run was then turned into a victory lap packed with simple but funny tricks.
"I've never taken a victory lap before but I no longer need to prove that I am the best in the world. Instead, I want to show people how fun freestyle skiing is," she said.
Gu made her signature move of back-to-back 900s look like a walk in the park during the finals even in the windy conditions, but she said people should see the hard work she put in to execute the trick.
"Talent, if there is any, is not as important because more than 99 percent is hard work. I would still go to training after eight hours of photoshoots. I ran a half-marathon every week and trained for four hours a day when I was in China during the summer vacation. That's how I got here," she said.
Winning three medals at the Olympics has changed her life forever, Gu said.
"My most memorable Beijing 2022 moment was the second I landed the last 1680 in the Big Air, because I felt the joy of completing a trick that I've never done before and winning a gold medal at the same time," she said.
The joy of winning Winter Olympic medals may just last a few seconds, but the joy of knowing that people have seen her passion for the sport at the Games and may start to experience it will last for a very long time, she added.
She said it was "immensely rewarding" to read the hundreds of messages she receives every day "from young girls saying that they heard about freestyle skiing for the first time because they saw me on TV at the Winter Olympics, or they went skiing and they thought of me".
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