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Eileen Gu, the controversial big air skiing star who competes for China despite being American born, was unable to defend her gold medal at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games on Monday night.
Gu came away with the silver medal in the women’s freeski big air competition, while Canada’s Megan Oldham won gold.
Gu scored 90.00 on her first run, which was just on the list of contenders for third place, as Oldham and Austria’s Lara Wolf had better scores.
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Gold medalist Megan Oldham of Team Canada, silver medalist Ailing Eileen Gu of Team People’s Republic of China and bronze medalist Flora Tabaneli of Team Italy pose for a photo during the medal ceremony for the Women’s Freeski Big Air on day ten of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics at Livigno Snow Park on 20-Feb-16 in Livigno, Italy. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
But Gu’s mistake was on the second run, where she was unable to grip the tail of her ski cleanly and her landing was shaky, leading to a score of 61.25.
At that point, Gu was out of a medal position with one race to go. In this competition, the two best results of each skier are combined.
On the final run, Gu managed to score an 89.00, giving her a final tally of 179.00. That was enough for second place, but Oldham held a slight advantage of 1.75 points over Gu at the end.
CONTROVERSIAL OLYMPIC EILEEN GU CREATED OVER ‘REALLY DISAPPOINTED’ WINTER GAMES SCHEDULE
Italy’s Flora Tabaneli finished with bronze in the event.
However, Gu was not upset by the result, pointing out that she has won five Olympic medals in her two appearances at the Games. Her first was in Beijing in 2022, where she took gold in big air and halfpipe, while winning silver in Slopestyle.
In this year’s Games, Gu secured a silver medal in Slopestyle, with halfpipe the remaining event for her later in the week.
“‘Five-time Olympic medalist’ has a good ring to it,” Gu told reporters after the event.
Before this medal event, Gu called out the International Skiing and Snowboarding Federation (FIS) about how tight the Olympic schedule has been for her, saying it prevents her from getting proper training sessions she needs for a freeski event.
Gold medalist Megan Oldham of Team Canada, silver medalist Ailing Eileen Gu of Team People’s Republic of China and bronze medalist Flora Tabaneli of Team Italy pose for a victory selfie during the medal ceremony for the Women’s Freeski Big Air on day ten of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics at Livigno Snow Park Feb. 26, Livigno, Italy. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Gu is the sport’s only three-event athlete, and she says Monday night’s competition makes it impossible for her to properly prepare for the qualifying round of the halfpipe final, which begins Thursday.
“I’m disappointed with the FIS,” she said. “I think the Olympics should be the epitome of aspiration and I think being able to do something out of the ordinary should be celebrated rather than punished.
“I think it’s really unfair. I think it’s punishing excellence, to be completely honest with you. Because I dare to do three events and it makes it completely impossible to train fairly for the third event.”
Gu became a controversial figure in action sports in 2019 when she made the decision to ski for China instead of the United States in the upcoming 2022 Olympics. She grew up in California and attended Stanford, although her mother is a first-generation Chinese immigrant to the United States
Gu said at the time that it was an “incredibly tough” decision and the Americans were not too happy about her decision given the geopolitical tension between the US and China.
Silver medalist Ailing Eileen Gu of Team People’s Republic of China looks on during the medal ceremony for the Women’s Freeski Big Air on day ten of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics at Livigno Snow Park on February 16, 2026 in Livigno, Italy. (Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Gu was celebrated in China for her selection, but a huge question still looms as she remains one of the best in the sport.
Since China does not allow dual citizenship for its athletes, requiring Chinese nationality for those who compete, has Gu renounced his US citizenship? She has not answered the question.
As Gu looks forward to the halfpipe qualifier on Thursday, the final of the event is on Saturday.
