Gu wins FIS Freeski on closing day of Winter Games NZ

Winter Games NZ closed out in style today with the world’s best halfpipe skiers battling for the first points of the season at the FIS Freeski Halfpipe World Cup.

China’s Eileen Gu landed her 15th World Cup win - the highest of any male or female athlete - outscoring her fellow competitors on each of her three runs at Cardrona Alpine Resort.

In the men’s field, Brendan Mackay (CAN) came out with a point to prove having qualified in 10th place and finished his day with a gold medal.

For Gu, today’s record-breaking win was particularly sweet as it was at Cardrona Alpine Resort that she scored her very first World Cup podium five years ago.

“It's a full circle moment,” she says. “My 15th World Cup win podium at the location of my first World Cup win five years ago.”

“The weather and the conditions did not make it easy today but it’s a testament to my love of skiing. Every new contest feels novel and exciting, there’s no complacency here, my goal is to continue pushing myself, pushing the sport, pushing women’s skiing.

"Seeing that record being broken today for men and women means a tonne to me and it’s something I’ll carry with me and I hope to continue breaking records in the future.”

With blizzard-like conditions setting in as the competition got underway, the 10 men and eight women who had made the cut from Friday’s qualifying rounds had their work cut out for them in Cardrona's 22-foot Olympic halfpipe.

Tactics would be key with a choice between erring on the side of caution and getting a safe run on the board or pushing hard despite the weather. Competition experience would certainly prove to be a factor.

Last to drop into the pipe in the women’s field, Olympic gold medallist Eileen Gu waited patiently for a break in the howling wind before starting her first run. Opening with a huge right side 900, she set the bar with a score of 92 on run one. Although none of her competitors would be able to match that, Gu was not resting on her laurels, showing fantastic trick execution and technique as well as gaining massive amplitude out of the pipe and improving her score to 94.5 on run two.

When it came time for her third and final run, Gu already had the win in the bag but still she pushed with a trademark high-level run including a rightside cork 9 Buick grab, left side cork 9 Japan, right side 7 lead tail, switch left 7 Japan, left alley oop flat spin 540 mute grab. The judges awarded a score of 96 points, praising her good amplitude, variety of tricks, consistently good grabs and for spinning her tricks in four different directions.

 

 

“It means so much,” she says. “I think for me, skiing is always about pushing the next level so I was happy with the 92 on run one but I wanted to push it to 94 and then I wanted to push to 96.

“Every contest is a new challenge so having that resilience mentally and physically to compete and put it down when it counts, it’s a challenge every time. It keeps it fun and exciting, it’s what I love about skiing.”

While no one could beat Gu, the battle for second place was on between Kexin Zhang (CHN) and Rachael Karker (CAN). Zhang held the higher score after the first run with 85.25 while Karker sat just behind on 83.25. With Zhang unable to improve her score on run two, the Canadian leapfrogged ahead of her with 87 points but Zhang was able to answer with a score of 89.25 on her final run, the judges rewarding her for good trick variety and execution and the silver medal. Karker didn’t improve on her second run score and finished her day in third place.

Having only just squeezed into the men’s finals as the 10th-place qualifier, Canadian Brendan Mackay was determined to improve on his performance today.

“I had a difficult qualifying and I didn’t feel like I deserved to be in the finals. I really wanted to come out and prove I have what it takes and make it up to myself.”

Sitting in second place behind countryman Andrew Longino after run one, the 2023 world champion knew he would need to push even harder on his second run. The judges rewarded him with a score of 90 points for a clean second run which included a switch left alley oop double 900 critical, switch left down the pipe double 1080 safety grab, right side double cork 1260 safety and left side double cork 1260 safety.

First to drop in on the third run, Mackay was unable to up his score and would have a nervous wait to see if it would hold up for the win.

Meanwhile, Alex Ferreira (USA), one of the most experienced athletes in today’s field, was also making his way up the leaderboard, moving into second place on run two with a score of 89 points, just one point behind Mackay. With five World Cup wins, plus X Games and Dew Tour gold medals on his record from last season, Ferreira was definitely capable of snatching a last-minute victory.

He would come close, the judges awarding him 89.5 for his last run, but not enough to push Mackay off the top spot.

“It feels amazing to put down the run I wanted,” Mackay says after the competition. “A massive shout out to all riders in those challenging conditions. The wind definitely made it scarier but when it’s like that you’ve just got to push through and trust what you can do on skis and let it rip.”

Andrew Longino finished his day in third place.

Young Kiwi competitors Finley Melville Ives (18) and Luke Harrold (16) struggled to back up their performances on Friday which saw them qualify in first and third place respectively. Melville Ives finished today’s competition in 10th place and Harrold in seventh.

While it may not have been the results they were looking for, the pair have proved themselves more than capable of competing against the best in the world and a genuine threat to the World Cup podium.