Eileen Gu has only one chance left to earn the gold medal as she heads to the halfpipe finals on February 21, 2026. After winning two silver medals in the slopestyle and big air, she entered the halfpipe qualification around as one of the top prospects. Despite an underwhelming first run, she showed resilience in the second run and finished fifth, ultimately booking her spot on the final roster.
Eileen Gu Onto Her Final Gold Medal Bid at the Winter Olympics 2026
Gu, the only woman freeskier, signed up for all the events in the Milan-Cortina Games, was dominant in her first slopestyle run, scoring 86.58, but stumbled in the next two runs, which obstructed her opportunity to improve her score, and thus placed her second behind Swiss skier Mathilde Gremaur, who earned 86.96 for the gold.
In big air, Gu’s first run encompassed a double cork 1440 and earned her 90.00, but the next time was not lucky, ending with a mediocre score of 61.25. That had already put her gold medal hope in jeopardy. In the final turn, she aced a left-side double cork 1260 to become the runner-up behind Megan Oldham of Canada.
Gu won the halfpipe gold in the 2022 Beijing edition, alongside the big air, and became the first freestyle skier ever to win three medals at a single Games. Her success was followed by Best Female Action Sports Athlete ESPY and Best Breakthrough Athlete honors at the 2022 ESPY Awards.
The 22-year-old, who was born and raised in the United States, competed for the U.S. until 2019 but later switched to representing China. She has often spoken about taking the sport to greater heights and being a beacon of inspiration for young girls in China.
Her reasoning, that her decision made sense because China lacked a prominent idol in the sport, while the U.S. already had strong representation, has circulated widely on the internet, especially during the Winter Games.
However, being U.S.-born and representing China has brought Eileen Gu massive backlash, and she has even faced criticism from Vice President JD Vance. Many have also questioned why she has remained silent about her U.S. citizenship or passport status, since China does not allow dual citizenship.
How and Where to Watch Eileen Gu in the Halfpipe Finals? Streaming Details
Gu’s final event will take place on February 21, 2026, and the timings are as follows:
- 13:30 ET – Final Run 1
- 14:00 ET – Final Run 2
- 14:30 ET – Final Run 3The US fans can watch the action live on NBC Olympics and Peacock, and also get live updates on the official website. UK residents can tune in to TNT Sports, Discovery+, and BBC Sport.
