Freeskier Eileen Gu takes gold in the women's ski halfpipe for her third medal at the Beijing Games

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Freeskier Eileen Gu takes gold in the women's ski halfpipe for her third medal at the Beijing Games
Gold medalist Eileen Gu of Team China smiles after her final run at the women's halfpipe ski event.Ian MacNicol/Getty Images
  • Teenage freestyle skier Eileen Gu has clinched her second gold medal of the Beijing 2022 Olympics.
  • She scored 95.25 in her second run during the women's freeski halfpipe finals, securing her top spot.
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Eileen Gu, the US-born teenage superstar representing China, took gold in the women's freeski halfpipe final on Friday, bagging her third medal of the Beijing Winter Olympics.

Gu, 18, is the first-ever freestyle skier to win a medal in three events at the same Olympics. She won gold in the big air event and silver in a comeback victory from eighth place in the slopestyle final.

During the halfpipe final, she took the lead on her first run with a score of 93.25, then secured her top spot on the podium after scoring 95.25 points on her second run.

Canadians Cassie Sharp and Rachael Karker took silver and bronze, respectively, with Sharp scoring 95.25 and Karker coming in with 87.75.

Born in California, Gu drew controversy when she announced in 2019 that she would represent China at the Games. Despite the controversy, Gu remains popular in China, and made more than $31.4 million in endorsement deals in 2021 alone, Insider's Waiyee Yip reported.

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"I'm fully American and look and speak the way I do. Nobody can deny I'm American. When I go to China, nobody can deny I'm Chinese because I'm fluent in the language and culture and completely identify as such," she told the South China Morning Post.

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