Gu glides to another historic feat with Big Air bronze
China’s freeski sensation Gu Ailing just can’t stop making history.
Three days after becoming the first freeskier to win two golds at a single edition of the FIS World Freeski and Snowboard World Championships, the 17-year-old defied her own expectations to finish third in Tuesday’s Big Air final. Combined with her halfpipe and slopestyle golds, that result means Gu is the first-ever athlete to stand on the podium in all three competitions at a single freeski worlds.
“I’m not going to lie, I did not expect to medal in this event,” Gu told The Aspen Times after clinching bronze. “It is my third Big Air, ever, and I came in with the intention of doing the left (double cork 1080) and the right (double cork 1260).
“I’ve never landed the right dub 12 in a contest ever before, be it slope or Big Air. Today was just about pushing my own limits and being able to show myself what’s possible. I genuinely am just as happy as if I had won. I cannot believe I got third place. It’s just icing on the cake.”
The relatively unheralded Anastasia Tatalina pocketed gold with a score of 184.50 points, becoming the first athlete representing the Russian Ski Federation to win the title at the worlds.
The 20-year-old is also the first female skier to execute left- and right-side double cork 1260s in the competition.
Tatalina’s compatriot Lana Prusakova scored 165.50 to claim silver, with Gu tallying 161.50.
Gu’s haul at the worlds — made all the more impressive considering she was nursing hand injuries — is a repeat of her breakout performance at the X Games in January, also on Aspen’s Buttermilk Mountain, when she bagged the same combi“I nation of medals.
The teenager is expected to star for Team China at next year’s Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Born and raised in San Francisco, California, Gu announced in 2019 that she would compete for China, her mother’s native country.
The grade-A, Stanford-bound student, who is also a fashion model, has previously spoken of her deep connection with her Chinese roots.
was raised bilingual, and spent every summer in Beijing, so I know Chinese culture and American culture as well. So I have that dual identity, where together two halves make a whole for me,” Gu said in January.
She has said her decision to compete for China was also partly influenced by the country’s plan to attract 300 million people to ice and snow sports in the buildup to Beijing 2022. She even hopes to “use sports as a bridge” between the United States and China.
First and foremost, though, Team China will hope Gu can reign on the slopes surrounding Beijing at next year’s Winter Olympics. On the evidence of her extraordinary performance at the worlds, she appears well equipped to cope with the mounting expectations on her shoulders.