Feature: Gu Ailing's historic glory and personal loss

by sportswriters Liu Yang, Xiao Yazhuo and Lu Xingji

LIVIGNO, Italy, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Gu Ailing had a gold-medal image as her phone wallpaper before Sunday's women's freeski halfpipe final.

The 22-year-old Chinese freeski star delivered on it, successfully defending her Olympic halfpipe title on the final day of the Milan-Cortina Winter Games to add to her silvers in slopestyle and big air.

It was her sixth Olympic medal across two Games, making her the most decorated freeskier by both gold medals and total medals on the Olympic stage.

"That's something that I am so proud of, it's unbelievable to me, still surreal," Gu said. "Going six [medals] for six [starts] is pretty crazy."

PRESSURE HANDLING

The victory was not straightforward. In her first run, Gu lost speed and momentum after landing her opening 900-degree spin.

She rebounded in the second run, landing back-to-back 900s cleanly and executing the rest of her routine without fault to post 94.00 points and move to the top of the standings. In the final round, she improved her score to 94.75.

Reflecting on her ability to bounce back after her first-run trouble, Gu said, "It is easy to doubt yourself. Little things may trigger your self-doubt and over time make you afraid to try."

She said the power of sport lies in its honesty, offering what she called "evidence over affirmation" - proof built through repetition rather than self-talk.

"You don't tell yourself, 'I can handle the pressure, I'm so great,'" Gu said. "You do it time and time again."

PROUD TO CONTRIBUTE

After China finished 1-2 with Gu and teammate Li Fanghui, the country's medal tally at the Games rose to five golds, four silvers and six bronzes, its best result at an overseas Winter Games, surpassing the previous 5-2-4 mark set at Vancouver 2010.

"I'm especially proud and happy," Gu said when asked about her contribution to the team's performance.

"Winning one Olympic medal is already incredibly difficult. To win six consecutive medals, a 100 percent medal rate six times, that's an unimaginable standard to set for myself. I wouldn't have dared to say that before coming here."

Halfpipe, she said, has a special place in her repertoire. While she started in slopestyle and embraced big air as "the new and exciting thing," Gu said she feels she brings "unique flavor" to halfpipe.

"I'm a slopestyle skier coming into halfpipe," she explained. "I grab differently. I have different axis on my cork. It's very personal to me."

A MARATHON AT SPRINT PACE

Gu arrived in Livigno having not trained in halfpipe for two months while preparing for slopestyle and big air. She called her decision to compete in all three events "a big gamble."

"I'm not a betting woman, but I took a pretty big bet on myself," she said. "There was a chance that everything could go wrong, and I would walk away with nothing. But in my head, even if everything crashes and burns, I tried. I will never regret trying."

Gu described the past weeks as "a marathon at sprint pace."

"I've been giving 100 percent of myself every single day," she said. "I can't slack any day. Every day is the Olympics, and you have to do it three weeks straight."

She described long, sleepless stretches in the build-up to competition days, and said that once one event ends, the focus immediately shifts to the next.

BUILDING LEGACIES BEYOND MEDALS

For Gu, the medals are only part of the story. She said she wants to use her platform to grow the sport, particularly among young girls, and to create opportunities for other athletes.

"A big part of it is participation in the sport, the number of people who have heard of freeski, especially girls, and who dare to try," she said. "The second thing is recognition within the industry. A rising tide raises all boats. With more eyeballs on the sport, it benefits literally every other athlete too. They get more viewership, they get to have their own platforms, they get more sponsorship."

She cited estimates that around 300 million people in China have engaged in winter sports since Beijing 2022, and said she has seen rising interest from sponsors and investors.

"As a competitor, I think we yearn for a worthy opponent," Gu said. "It's not about beating other people, but about healthy competition. That's what sportsmanship is. That's what the Olympics are about. What's exciting is that year after year we get to see the progression of a sport. Everybody is contributing to that growth."

A PROMISE KEPT

The press conference was nearly over when Gu picked up the microphone one last time. She said she owed everyone an explanation for running late.

"The reason I was late is that I just found out that my grandma passed away," her voice trembled. "She was a really big part of my life growing up and someone I looked up to immensely."

Gu described her grandmother as a fighter who refused to simply cruise through life. She said she knew death was a possibility, but she did not promise victory. Instead, she said, she made a different pledge.

"I didn't promise her that I was going to win, but I did promise her that I was going to be brave, like she has been brave," Gu said.

Gu said that promise became the through-line of her Olympic campaign, fueling her willingness to take risks and to compete in three events.

"It actually goes back to that promise that I made to my grandma," she said. "And so I'm happy that I was able to uphold that and hopefully do her proud." Enditem