Winter Olympics 2022: China's Eileen Gu makes history with third freeski medal in single Games

Gu, who was born in America and competes for China, won her third medal -- a gold -- in the halfpipe event

China's Eileen Gu has etched her name in the record books. Gu, an American competing for China, became the first freeski athlete to win three medals in a single Olympics when she won gold in the halfpipe event on Friday.

It's her second gold medal in the halfpipe event and the second gold medal she has won at the Beijing Olympics. Gu, who is 18, also won a gold medal in the women's ski halfpipe and a silver medal in slopestyle.

Gu took the lead with a score of 93.25 on her first run on Friday. On her second run, she came out hitting a 900 and landed back-to-back alley-oop flat spin 540s in her final two runs. Gu then turned in a remarkable 95.25 on her final run. That last score was strong enough to stand for the rest of the event.

"I've never taken a victory lap before in my entire life, so I felt like, 'You know what, last event at the Olympics, it feels like I finally deserve it,'" GU said following her historic win, according to ESPN.

Canada's Cassie Sharpe, who was the defending Olympic gold medalist in the event, earned the silver while Canada's Rachael Karker won the bronze medal. 

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