Eileen Gu, of China, waves after competing during the women’s freestyle skiing big air finals on Tuesday in Beijing. Jae C. Hong/Associated Press
BEIJING — American-born Eileen Gu of China cranked out the first 1620 of her career on her final jump, stunning France’s Tess Ledeux and earning the first of what she hopes will be three gold medals in women’s freestyle big air on Tuesday.
Nicknamed the “Snow Princess,” Gu is among the biggest local names at the Beijing Games. She’s a medal favorite in big air, slopestyle and halfpipe. Her first stab at gold came down to the last round.
Ledeux is the only other woman to ever land a 1620 – 4 spins – in competition, and she stomped one out with a slight wobble on the landing in Round 1.
Gu hinted after qualifying Monday that she might be able to match Ledeux. With everything on the line, she did.
The 18-year-old from San Francisco shrieked when she landed the jump, then dropped to her knees when her score of 94.50 was announced.
Ledeux tried to improve on her second run in Round 3, coming into the jump backward for a switch 1440. She was shaky on the landing, though, clearing the way for Gu’s gold.
ALPINE SKIING: The U.S. ski team says American skier Nina O’Brien has sustained a compound fracture of her left tibia and fibula after falling toward the end of the women’s giant slalom.
Monday’s race had to be delayed for about 15 minutes when O’Brien slid across the finish line at the end of her second run. She was screaming in pain after stumbling through the last gate as her skis crossed in front of her.
O’Brien was taken to hospital in Yanqing for “an initial stabilization procedure” and the team says she will return to the U.S. for further evaluation and care.
The 24-year-old O’Brien had been sixth fastest after the opening run.
• Beat Feuz of Switzerland captured gold in the men’s downhill – a slim 0.10 seconds ahead of 41-year-old Johan Clarey of France, who broke Bode Miller’s record as the oldest male Alpine medalist.
• Swedish skier Sara Hector capped a recent career resurgence in the best way possible, winning the gold medal in the women’s giant slalom. It was her first individual victory at a major championship.
Federica Brignone of Italy was 0.28 seconds slower over the two legs to add a silver medal to the bronze she won in giant slalom at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.
MEN’S HOCKEY: A second Finland player has been taken to an isolation hotel after testing positive for the coronavirus.
Goaltender Jussi Olkinuora has joined forward Marko Anttila in isolation. The Finnish Olympic Committee confirmed Olkinuora was taken Monday and that Anttila remains there.
A spokesman for the Finnish Olympic Committee says Olkinuora and Anttila recovered from COVID-19 last month and tested negative to travel to Beijing.
Neither Olkinuora nor Anttila have reported any symptoms.
The Finnish Olympic Committee is unsure when either player could be released. The team plays its first game Thursday.
FIGURE SKATING: U.S. men’s figure skater Vincent Zhou has tested positive for the coronavirus, and is out of the individual competition.
In a five-minute video posted to Instagram on Monday night, a teary Zhou announced that he would have to withdraw. He had initially tested positive as part of a routine COVID-19 screening, and underwent additional testing.
The 21-year-old had struggled through a poor free skate for the eventual team silver medalists a day before, and was due to compete in the individual competition that begins with the men’s short program on Tuesday.
In the video, Zhou said he had isolated to the point of crushing loneliness over the past few months in a bid to avoid the virus. He ended on a positive note, though: “This is not the end. This is a setup for a bigger comeback.”
• Kamila Valieva became the first woman to land a quad in the Olympics, and her historic free skate put a stamp on Russia’s dominant run to the gold medal in the team event.
Valieva scored 178.92 points, giving Russia 74 points and their second gold medal in three editions of the team event. The U.S. took the silver medal after back-to-back bronze, while Japan won its first team medal with bronze
SNOWBOARDING: Canadian snowboarder Max Parrot took the gold medal in men’s slopestyle, just over three years after being diagnosed with cancer.
Technically superior on his second of three runs, Parrot scored a 90.96. He tossed his snowboard in delight after the final score was revealed.
American Red Gerard, the defending gold medalist, was knocked off the podium when Canadian rival Mark McMorris overtook him for third place on the final run. Su Yiming of China earned the silver.
SHORT-TRACK SPEEDSKATING: Arianna Fontana burnished her legacy as short track’s most decorated skater with her second medal in Beijing.
The 31-year-old Italian took the lead from Dutch world champion Suzanne Schulting late in Monday’s race and let out a yell as she crossed the line to earn her 10th career medal.
Fontana won in 42.488 seconds. Schulting took silver in 42.559 and Kim Boutin of Canada earned bronze in 42.724.
Fontana also won a silver in the inaugural mixed team relay on Sunday, putting her ahead of Viktor An and Apolo Ohno for career medals.
She was already the only athlete to win a medal of every color in the same individual event. She won gold in the 500 four years ago in Pyeongchang, silver in Sochi in 2014 and bronze at Vancouver in 2010.
• Ren Ziwei of China survived a controversial finish to win the men’s 1,000 meters.
Liu Shaolin Sandor of Hungary crossed the line first but was penalized twice and earned a yellow card. That elevated Ren, who crossed second, to the gold medal.
Li Wenlong of China earned silver. Liu Shaoang of Hungary, the brother of Liu, took bronze.
SPEEDSKATING: Ireen Wüst added to her haul as the most decorated speedskater in Olympic history with another gold. The 35-year-old Dutch skater won her second straight gold in the 1,500 meters, setting an Olympic record with a time of 1 minute, 53.28 seconds at the Ice Ribbon oval in Beijing.
Miho Takagi of Japan claimed the silver in 1:53.72, while the bronze went to Antoinette de Jong of the Netherlands in 1:54.82.
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