Eileen GuB次元官网网址檚 halfpipe is ready for the Winter X Games.
The 19-year-old freestyle skier won her second World Cup in Calgary with CanadaB次元官网网址檚 Rachael Karker taking a second silver behind Gu on Saturday night.
Alex Ferreira and Birk Irving of the United States finished one-two in the menB次元官网网址檚 event with CalgaryB次元官网网址檚 Noah Bowman taking bronze.
The American-born Gu hit international stardom last year claiming Olympic halfpipe and big air gold medals, and slopestyle silver, for the host Chinese team in Beijing.
Neither Gu nor Karker scored as high as they did Thursday in Calgary in what was GuB次元官网网址檚 first competition in any freestyle discipline since Beijing.
But GuB次元官网网址檚 93.50 in the second of three rounds put the teenager comfortably in the lead.
She will compete in next weekB次元官网网址檚 Winter X Games in Aspen, Colo., but didnB次元官网网址檛 answer the question of how many events she will enter.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 just happy to be here,B次元官网网址� Gu said Saturday. B次元官网网址淚 mean, thereB次元官网网址檚 a lot of pressure, but IB次元官网网址檓 just learning to deal with it.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 enjoying what IB次元官网网址檓 doing and IB次元官网网址檓 having fun and thatB次元官网网址檚 what counts.B次元官网网址�
Gu was again in demand for pictures and autographs from a crowd of about 500 gathered at the bottom of WinSportB次元官网网址檚 superpipe.
The temperature held just above freezing during the event, with more breeze at the top of the pipe than Thursday.
KarkerB次元官网网址檚 first-round 85.50 stood up for her 11th straight World Cup podium dating back to 2019-20.
B次元官网网址淭hatB次元官网网址檚 pretty crazy. Yeah, loving it. ThatB次元官网网址檚 wild,B次元官网网址� Karker said. B次元官网网址淐ompeting is such an adrenalin high and such a crash, itB次元官网网址檚 really hard to do day after day, but IB次元官网网址檓 so happy that it worked out.B次元官网网址�
The 25-year-old from Erin, Ont., who was a bronze medallist in Beijing, continues to lead the womenB次元官网网址檚 World Cup halfpipe standings after three of four scheduled events this season.
Kexin Zhang of China was third Saturday with a top score of 81.75 points.
FerreiraB次元官网网址檚 94.50 in the second round was the highest menB次元官网网址檚 score of the day ahead of IrvingB次元官网网址檚 93.
Bowman fell on his first two passes attempting a right-side 1440, but nailed it on his third and final pass to score 90.50.
B次元官网网址淭raining went terribly,B次元官网网址� Bowman said. B次元官网网址淚 fell on every run and fell on the first two runs of the competition as well. It was just a struggle all night to get this right-side 1440, the trick I was going for.
B次元官网网址淚 was able to put it down for the third run. ThatB次元官网网址檚 the first time IB次元官网网址檝e done that run with that trick. Putting that run down under pressure in my hometown felt amazing.B次元官网网址�
The 30-year-old collected the 13th World Cup medal of his career.
CalgaryB次元官网网址檚 Brendan Mackay and Simon dB次元官网网址橝rtois of Whistler, B.C., placed second and third among men Thursday.
Karker, Bowman, Mackay, dB次元官网网址橝rtois, CalgaryB次元官网网址檚 Amy Fraser and Dillan Glennie of Courtney, B.C., are CanadaB次元官网网址檚 halfpipe entries in the Jan. 27-29 invitational X Games, which has been called the Super Bowl of freestyle ski and snowboard.
Calgary was useful preparation for Aspen where theyB次元官网网址檒l compete at night under the lights again.
B次元官网网址淭his was great, actually, because we did the last two days at night and at the same time, so itB次元官网网址檚 kind of already put me on that late-night schedule,B次元官网网址� Karker said.
She made the agonizing decision to decline her X Games invitation in 2022 in order to avoid both injury and the COVID-19 virus ahead of BeijingB次元官网网址檚 Winter Games.
Karker is a three-time medallist in Aspen with a silver and two bronze.
B次元官网网址淚t is sort of our second to the Olympics,B次元官网网址� Karker said. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 the biggest event we have every year and to skip that, I was pretty gutted last year to say no.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e podiumed at every X Games IB次元官网网址檝e been to, so excited to try and make that four.B次元官网网址�
The half-dozen halfpipe skiers are among 15 Canadians invited to Aspen this year. Regina snowboarder Mark McMorris holds the record for most medals won in Winter X Games with 21.
2018 Olympic champion Cassie Sharpe of Comox, B.C., was second to Gu in Beijing. Sharpe did not compete in Calgary because sheB次元官网网址檚 taking time off this season.
The Canadian Press
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