Gu Ailing into women's freeski slopestyle finals at Beijing 2022
Gu Ailing competes in the qualification on Monday.
China's Gu Ailing qualified for the freeski women's slopestyle finals with a score of 79.38 points after two rounds at Beijing 2022 on Monday.
China's prodigy Gu placed third among 12 qualifiers, while the 18-year-old Chinese Yang Shuorui failed to qualify for Tuesday's finals.
Gu had just claimed a historic gold in the women's freeski big air, all eyes were on her as this is her second target for gold. After two runs which easily secured her a final spot, Gu took a Chinese pie out and started to enjoy at the waiting area. "It's delicious! Highly recommended!" she said.
Kelly Sildaru of Estonia, who currently ranks world No.1 in slopestyle, took the lead with 86.15 points. Joanne Killi of Norway scored 86.00 to came second.
"I was actually quite nervous before the first run, especially because I couldn't put runs down in big air, so it was especially important for me to land a run. I'm super happy to put it down," Sildaru said of her first Olympics.
"The course is actually pretty good and the landings are soft because it snowed yesterday," she said.
Defending champion Sarah Hoefflin of Switzerland was eliminated in 48.96 points. Pyeongchang silver medalist Mathilde Gremaud of Switzerland only scored 63.46 to edge into the finals. Tess Ledeux of France, last season's slopestyle crystal globe winner, scored 68.13 points to rank 9th.
Marin Hamill of the United States, who had already guaranteed a final berth with the first-run score of 69.43 points, collapsed in the landing of her second run. So far, it is still unclear how serious the injury is and if she can attend Tuesday's final.
