Swiss skier Mathilde Gremaud has successfully defended her slopestyle title and denied Chinese superstar Eileen Gu a gold medal for a second straight Winter Olympics.
California-born Gu had been hoping to convert her Beijing 2022 silver medal in the event into gold but missed the target after falling at the start of her last run.
Gremaud, 26, had stopped Gu winning three Olympic golds four years ago when she claimed slopestyle crown, now going back-to-back.
Canada’s Megan Oldham took the bronze medal, recovering from a big crash on her second run to nail her third and final charge.
Each skier had three runs with the best, as decided by the judges, counting for medals. Gu went in front early, scoring 86.58 with her first run in the final, while her arch-rival scored 83.60.
But Gremaud was a worthy winner, becoming the first woman to perform a trick known as the nose butter double cork 1260 to earn the top score with 86.96.
In this trick the skier presses the tips of the skis on the takeoff to start the spin and then performs a double cork 1260, two distinct off-axis, inverted flips combined with three and a half full, horizontal rotations.
Gu slipped on the rail on her second run to only score 23.00 and then fell on the first rail of the last run as she pushed for a big score to snatch the gold medal.
With top spot locked in, Gremaud did a show run in her third time down the course, carrying the Swiss flag before collecting her fourth Olympic medal.
"Eileen tried to come for me all the time, and I had to really focus on myself so that she couldn't get to me," twice world champion Gremaud said.
"It was a crazy ride. It was a really tough battle with Eileen. She pushed me to push myself as well for sure."
Both of Gremaud's Olympic wins over Gu have been by tiny margins: 0.33 points in 2022, and 0.38 in 2026.
"I think it's funny that both Olympics we were within half a point of one another. If anything, I think it's just testament to the growth of women's freeskiing. It's so special to be a part of that," Gu said.
"The hardest part has been staying consistent all these years. I've had a really tough last four years, dealing with injury and time off snow and then some mental stuff."
