Eileen Jo after winning the gold medal in the semi-pipe free skating.credit…Doug Mills/The New York Times
Eileen Jo did what she decided to do.
Gu, an 18-year-old from California who competes with China At the Beijing Olympics, she has already won two medals in the free skating competitions. I took Gold in the big air Last week he missed another in the slope on Tuesday, silver finishing.
On Friday, she entered Half Pipe – which she believes is the best of her three events – in search of Trifecta.
With a large crowd of Chinese fans cheering her every trick, she easily scored 95.25 in her second round, placing her well above the rest of the field. By the time she was in her third race, she had already won the gold medal.
Her victory in the half-pipe completed the goal she set for the Winter Olympics: winning three medals for China.
| calendar | ||
|---|---|---|
 China | 95.25 | |
 Canada | 90.75 | |
| Canada | 87.75 |
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Gu was going to attempt the final run with a tough 10 cork shot, to show off a bit, but her teammate Kexin Zhang fell and hit her head, then struggled to get up before skating down the half-pipe. This made Gu reconsider a perilous round.
“It kind of woke me up, and I’ve never been on a winning run before in my entire life, so I felt like, ‘You know, the last event in the Olympics, I feel like I finally deserved it,'” he said.
The Canadians came in strong after Joe, with Cassie Sharpe taking the silver and Rachel Karker taking the bronze. Sharp, who won half-pipe gold at the 2018 Olympics, is back from knee surgery last year.
“I went through hell and came back last year, so I’m so thankful that all the pieces I worked so hard on came together today,” she said.
Gu’s competition also included her top competitor, Kelly Seldaro of Estonia, the only other woman to have competed in all three Gu events. Sildaro, who finished fourth, said the half-pipes were a bit slow on Friday when it was windy, especially the right wall. But she was happy with her performance. credit…Doug Mills/The New York Times credit…Gabriela Bhaskar/The New York Times
“These Olympics were amazing,” she said. “I’m glad now that I can go home and rest a bit.” She earned one medal, and a bronze in italic style.
The United States had a strong force led by 17-year-old Hannah Faulhaber, who finished fourth at the world championships last year, and 32-year-old Britta Sigourney, who won the bronze medal four years ago. Faulhaber finished sixth, Sigourney 10th, and Karlie Margulies 11th in the 12 women’s final.
Gu has drawn international attention – and some controversy – for her decision in 2019 to represent her mother’s homeland.
The decision was barely noticed when she was 15 and the Beijing Olympics were about three years away. Gu now dominates her sport and finds herself in a growing geopolitical rift between her two countries.
Yan Ju, Eileen’s mother, was born in Shanghai and raised in Beijing, the daughter of a government engineer. She immigrated to the United States about 30 years ago for graduate studies and settled in San Francisco.
Growing up in San Francisco, Elaine Jo became a model representing luxury brands like Louis Vuitton and Tiffany. It has so many sponsorships in China that it is ubiquitous in advertisements and receives glowing coverage from the state news media.
Jo said she wants to be a bridge between the United States and China while inspiring young women and helping China’s nascent winter sports industry grow. She and her mother refused to discuss any of the thorny geopolitical issues of the competing nations.
Gu knows that the past two weeks will change her life forever.
“It’s been two straight weeks of the toughest highs and lows I’ve had in my life,” she said.
