Just as she was in 2022, Eileen Gu has been one of the most-discussed athletes of these Winter Games. The 22-year-old, who has won silver medals in both the Big Air and Slopestyle competitions earlier in these Games and is the most-decorated female freestyle skier ever, was raised in San Francisco and attends Stanford but represents China internationally. Her national team affiliation has been the subject of plenty of controversy, catching the attention of even U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance.
Politics aside, Gu is a one-of-a-kind force on skis, and she’ll have one final opportunity to bring home her third career gold medal this afternoon when the Halfpipe competition begins at 1:30 p.m. ET (7:30 p.m. local). She’s the only skier to compete in all three of the freestyle disciplines at these Games.
She’s a -150 favorite to defend her 2022 halfpipe gold at DraftKings Sportsbook, which would be China’s fifth gold of these Games. Great Britain’s Zoe Atkin (+150) has the second-shortest odds, with China’s Fenghui Li (+400) expected to round out the podium.
Women’s Ski Halfpipe prediction, pick
Gu’s qualification briefly looked in jeopardy during last night’s qualifying runs after she fell on the first run, but she stomped back-to-back 900’s and a 720 in the second run to qualify in fifth. Her overall score wasn’t very impressive, as she recorded just an 86.50, but she clearly took it easy and just did 180’s on the final two jumps, which she’s almost certain not to do in the finals. Instead, her run will likely look more like it did in 2022, when she opened with the same four jumps before hitting back-to-back alley-oop 540’s on the final two jumps. That score earned her a 95.25 from the judges, which no other skier could touch.
On the surface, Gu’s results look quiet this season. She’s only entered one halfpipe competition and two slopestyle competitions while focusing on her studies, but she managed to beat Atkin by 1.5 points in Secret Garden, China. She also won gold at the 2024 X Games, the only other competition to use a best-of-three format. Gu also topped the inaugural Snow League competition in December, but Atkin didn’t enter that competition while dealing with an illness. Atkin — Gu’s Stanford classmate — has a win and two runner-up finishes in her three events and won gold at the 2026 X Games, which did not feature Gu.
While Atkin is clearly the second-best halfpipe skier in the world, Li did beat her in competition at the Buttermilk stop in January, and she gave Gu a challenge during the Snow League semifinals. Like Atkin and Gu, she combines amplitude with style, and she’s thrown down 900’s in competition. She has a real shot of winning if either Gu or Atkin fails to throw down a clean run.
Still, it’s hard to expect a mistake from Gu, who’s been beaten in World Cup competition only once in the last four years, when she finished second to Amy Fraser at Mammoth Mountain in 2024. Even though she’s had one fewer practice session than every other halfpipe skier because of her participation in the Big Air competition, halfpipe is her sport, and even at -150, she’s still the safest bet.
