‘NEVER ATTEMPTED BEFORE’

Eileen Gu Lands Her First Ever 1620 to Win Gold For China in Beijing Big Air

The 18-year-old Californian, competing for China, pulled out a trick she’d never even tried before to secure her first Olympic gold medal.

Eileen Gu landed a four-and-a-half rotation 1620 degree jump she’d never even tried before in training to grab the gold medal in her final run in the women’s Olympic freestyle big air competition today. Gu was already guaranteed bronze and well placed to earn silver as she stood at the top of the ramp. Her mom, at the bottom of the hill, advised her to play it safe—but that’s clearly not in the DNA of a racer who made the life-changing decision at the age of 15 to compete for China instead of Team USA. Instead she made the “executive call” to try to land the Left Double 1620, a maneuver she’d only ever completed in her own mind. The fearless gamble paid off as she overtook France’s Tess Ledeux for the top spot. The Guardian said she was now “poised to emerge as the biggest American breakout star of these Games—while competing under the Chinese flag.”

“That was a trick I have never done before, had never attempted before,” said Gu. “Yes, I’ve thought about it a lot, but to put it down on my third run in the first Olympic freeski final in history means the world to me.” It wasn’t the only cool trick Gu pulled off: CNN reported the budding supermodel who is known in China as Snow Princess, briefly crashed the Chinese internet as tens of millions of Chinese fans rushed onto social networks to celebrate her success.