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Winter Games: Two women take the competition to new heights

By Debbie Fitzgerald
February 11, 2022
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IN the Big Air event of women’s freestyle skiing at the Winter Olympics, there were two sets of outrageous rotating jumps on skis – called “double cork 1620” – played out against a starry blue Beijing sky . Together, they represented a giant leap for women.

Kicking off a crackling snowstorm with their flying skis, two women aged 18 and 20 took turns accelerating a giant ramp that tilted at the edge, catapulting them into a 20-meter orbit. Then they spun 4½ times in the air while spinning twice off axis, before descending to land, floating backwards to a rush of adrenaline and serious applause from the crowd.

The story’s small issue of which of the two women made the historic landing first, however, could be buried in silver sleet. Because everyone remembers gold.

Chinese-American Eileen Gu, representing Winter Games host China, and French freeskier Tess Ledeux both scored an identical 94.50 in the 1620 final, with what looked like a monster from the last ball winning gold six after running a ball, vying for bronze. Favorite Ledeux stumbled and punctured in response, bitterly realizing that her own 1620 (4×360 degrees + 180 half-turn flip), from just minutes ago, would only net her a gold medal. silver. The gold medal was taken away from him by 0.75 points, with Gu’s score of 188.25 narrowly shadowing his 187.50.

And to think that it was Ledeux who became the first woman to uncork the double 1620 at the Winter X-Games last month in Aspen, Colorado, where Eileen was absent. From fist-pumping at the time about how she got her “revenge” for a 4th place finish at the previous World Championships, to claiming gold in Beijing when she hit the 1620 in her first of three races to take the lead, it was Ledeux who was looking to clinch first place on the podium. Eileen, who had never attempted the 1620 in competition, literally pulled a rabbit out of the hat, strategically saving her best for last.

Without fear

Eileen has her own kicking streak – she had pushed the women’s freestyle skiing daredevil four 360-degree spins for a “1440 double cork” at Steamboat in Colorado last November. The 1440 itself was considered insurmountable for women. But in what was a remarkable progression for the sport in four months, eventual Beijing bronze medalist Mathilde Gremaud of Switzerland scored a world-best 93.25 on her own double-switch 1440, and found herself at console the second-best of the 1620s (an extra half-spin) – the clueless Frenchwoman who nailed hers.

Elijah Teter, the athletic director of Wy’East Mountain Academy, told the New York Post earlier: “She’s had the mentality to follow the guys and do tricks that they do. She’s used to crashing and it’s tricky for women. A few summers ago on Mount Hood, Eileen cut her bridge and suffered a very bad concussion. It took him out for a week. It’s an injury that can scare people. Not Eileen. It overcomes fear.

1620 isn’t the only 4-digit number for the 18-year-old. With an SAT score of 1580, Eileen is ready for Stanford’s next term.

“Eileen is incredibly smart and likes to make skiers feel stupid,” Teter added to the NY Post. “She uses words bigger than them. She talks about things that go beyond skiing and going out. She throws chemistry stuff at them.

Ledeux, originally from La Plagne in France, was not lacking in ambition. The 20-year-old, whose ‘bread and butter’ was 3½ rotations for a ‘double cork 1260’ until a month ago, had upped her difficulty by adding a full rotation. But was caught off guard by a biracial athlete who could turn out to be China’s biggest star at these Games.

BORN IN AMERICA

Eileen was born in San Francisco to an American father and a Chinese mother, determined to get the best for her talented daughter. Associated Press reports that mother Yan Gu was exhausted watching her three-year-old ski at breakneck speeds and steered her into freestyle, which combines snowboarding stunts and downhill skiing, unaware of the higher risks. . But young Eileen loved to fly and was ready to train and travel.

Around 2019, she switched allegiance to China after splitting her time in both countries. But by the age of 9, Eileen had competed on the Chinese tracks, while mastering Mandarin and maintaining top college grades at home.

Eileen Gu of China competes in the women’s freestyle skiing big air final of the 2022 Winter Olympics, Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

At the same time, her modeling career took off and it was not uncommon to see her at the Met Gala, or sitting alongside Venus Williams and actor Stacy Martin at a Louis Vitton show at Paris Fashion Week. She counted Red Bull, Cadillac and Apple Beats and Victoria’s Secret among her sponsors, even as the build-up to the Games saw her bagging 20 endorsements and lighting billboards in Beijing in what has been a bumper season for the new age glamour. Chinese athlete.

Not that the work ethic ever wavered. But her strong rise stands in contrast to two other equally hard-working American-born who turned their sights to China – Beverly Zhu and Ashley Lin, both figure skaters, the former even enduring trolling by rude netizens. Although the home advantage could have shown itself in the very last period of his preparation.

Ledeux was quoted as grumbling by AP saying that while Eileen was an “extremely competitive and incredible athlete”, she had the benefit of training at the venue for weeks before the Games. “What I do know is that she was lucky and it’s only fair, she was able to train at the venues before anyone else and that probably made the difference today.”

LARGEST 1620

The Frenchwoman had felt she had the gold sealed, having set the first Big Air Finals on fire with her opening race of 1620. But Eileen was hiding.

Tess Ledeux of France competes in the women’s freestyle skiing big air final of the 2022 Winter Olympics, Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

After landing a 1440 (four spins) on her first run and a solid 1080 on Run 2, Eileen didn’t show her own 1620 until the third pass through the Steel Mill-turned-Shougang Park. Secured bronze, with Ledeux in the lead, Eileen said she plans to improve her 1440 for silver. Gold was hovering though, and only a 1620 could take it there. Passing her soft landing, she couldn’t help but smile as she scored 94.50 to throw the gauntlet at Ledeux.

Caught off guard, and having to nail a 1440 switch for gold, the Frenchwoman stumbled as a delirious Eileen was celebrated. A few days ago, when fans of the “Snow Princess” on Chinese TikTok urged to temper expectations, Eileen fired back, “Why don’t you trust me more?” After her gold, she talked about going fearlessly to the 1620, knowing that even if she didn’t make the landing, she would inspire the Chinese girls to aim big.

In the end, Ledeux wondered if she had opened her cards a bit too early and tried Eileen to pull out her own 1620, putting her under the pump on her final run. The 1620 wasn’t just a sentimental giant leap for women. It was brought in by two women who elevated it to the best form of competition.

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