Mathilde Gremaud of Switzerland won the gold medal in the women’s free ski slopestyle event at the Winter Olympics after a very close competition. She finished just 0.38 points ahead of Eileen Gu of China, making it one of the tightest finishes of the Games.
The slopestyle event includes rails and large jumps, and each athlete is given three runs. Judges score each run based on difficulty, control, and execution. Gremaud earned the highest score with a clean and technical performance. Her winning run included a smooth rail section followed by three big jumps. During the jump section, she landed one 1080-degree spin and two 1260-degree spins, which are considered very difficult tricks in freestyle skiing. Her strong landings and consistency helped her keep the lead.
Eileen Gu entered the event as one of the top favorites. She had already won gold medals in halfpipe and big air at the Winter Olympics and hoped to finish her gold medal collection by winning slopestyle as well. Gu performed well throughout the competition and attempted to improve her score during her final run. However, she made a small mistake in the rail section, which caused her to lose points. Because of this error, she was unable to pass Gremaud’s score and finished with the silver medal.
After the final scores were announced, Gremaud celebrated by skiing a victory lap while wearing Switzerland’s flag. Many of her coaches were crying in joy. The result was similar to the 2022 Beijing Olympics, where Gremaud also narrowly defeated Gu in the slopestyle event.
Both athletes showed good sportsmanship after the competition. Gu congratulated Gremaud and thanked the other competitors. Commentators said the event showed how competitive women’s freestyle skiing has become, with small mistakes having a big impact on results.
The close finish showed that every run matters in Olympic competition.
