Eileen Gu, or Gu Ailing as she is known in China, achieved superstar status at the 2022 Olympics when she won gold in both big air and halfpipe as an 18-year-old. The only person standing in the way of her triple was Switzerland’s Gremaud, who took home gold in slopestyle.
The two skaters also have another story on the sidelines, where Gremaud was abandoned before Beijing by his coach, who instead chose to work for Gu during the Olympics. It happened again before these games. Shortly after the X-Games in January, Gremaud said that coach Misra Noto, with whom she had reconciled, had again decided to be Gus’ coach during the Olympics.
Maybe that’s why it felt especially nice when Mathilde Gremaud made history in the second run of the final as the first woman to land three triples on the final jumps. It was enough to get past the Chinese in the results list. And when Eileen Gu fell onto a railing in the last run, the matter was over. Gremaud was the clear winner and was able to sail down the hill one last time with a Swiss flag over his shoulders.
However, the battle between the stars will continue in the other branches of the games.
