Photo: Cui Meng/GT

Freeskier Gu Ailing of Team China won her second gold at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games on Friday, bringing China's overall gold medal tally to a record eight at the Beijing Games.

The 18-year-old finished her first Olympic journey with two golds and a silver in the three events she competed in, having finished top in big air on February 8 and runner-up in slopestyle on February 15.

In a best-of-three format, Gu was the only one among all 12 finalists to break 90 points with 93.25 in the first run, with gold already seeming inevitable. And if there was any doubt, she bettered that with an even better second run which earned 95.25 points. Chinese netizens hailed that Gu Ailing wins Gu Ailing.

Gu, also known as Eileen, was born in the US to an American father and Chinese mother. Since first competing for China in 2019, she has won multiple golds for Team China on the international stage and become a household name in the process.

Silver medalist Cassie Sharpe of Canada was the only other skier to have delivered runs of over 90 points, with her second and third runs scoring 90.00 and 90.75, respectively.

Another Canadian Rachael Karker rounded out the podium with her first run of 87.75.

Besides Gu, two other Chinese skiers also competed in the halfpipe final. Li Fanghui finished fifth with a run of 86.50, and Zhang Kexin was seventh (78.75).