LIVIGNO, Italy — Canada’s Megan Oldham won the women’s freestyle big air final at the Winter Olympics ahead of China’s Eileen Gu on Monday, recovering in the best way from an injury that had hobbled her just three months ago.
Gu, the defending champion and one of Milan Cortina’s highest-profile athletes, had to settle for silver, while Italy’s Flora Tabanelli took bronze.
Oldham, 24, came into the final with the wind in her sails, having topped the qualifiers, and fresh from a slopestyle bronze a week ago.
In November, she suffered a concussion while practicing new tricks in Switzerland, and was off skiing for six weeks, a period she described as “really tough.”
For American-born Gu, it was the second silver medal of these Games, after the runner-up spot in slopestyle.
Tabanelli, 18, was the youngest contender at the final and the reigning freestyle world champion. She also bounced back from injury, having torn a knee ligament in November.
The three women hugged and smiled on the podium with their medals, before Tabanelli took a group selfie.
In big air, skiers launch themselves off a jump and perform as many flips and twists as they can before landing, reaching speeds of up to 60 kilometers per hour. Judges assess height, technique, originality and other factors.
The start of Monday’s final was delayed by over an hour due to a blizzard that would have made it unsafe to compete.
One of the top medal hopefuls, Mathilde Gremaud of Switzerland, pulled out just before the start due to a crash that resulted in an injury during a practice run.
–Reuters, special to Field Level Media
