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.
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.
Born in San Francisco to a Chinese mother and American father and raised by her mother and maternal grandmother, Gu announced in June 2019, at age 15, that she would switch country affiliations and compete for China in the Beijing Games.
“The opportunity to help inspire millions of young people where my mom was born, during the 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help to promote the sport I love,” she wrote on…
