Eileen Gu wins halfpipe gold as Zoe Atkin takes bronze in Livigno
eileen gu recovered from a fall on her first run to improve across her next two efforts and take gold in the women's freeski halfpipe in Livigno, while Zoe Atkin secured bronze to give Team GB its fifth medal of the Milan‑Cortina Games. Atkin’s finish also made her only the second British athlete to win an Olympic medal on skis.
Final runs in Livigno
After a fall on her opening run, Eileen Gu steadied herself and produced stronger second and third runs, showing what was described as nerves of steel to climb to the top of the podium. Gu’s winning score was 94. 75, her first gold of these Games after having won two silvers earlier in the programme. Li Fanghui took silver, leaving Zoe Atkin half a point behind the silver position.
Eileen Gu's final runs
Gu improved with each of her next two runs after that first‑run fall, while Atkin led after the first runs but then finished with a final score of 92. 50 on her last effort. The 92. 50 marked an improvement with the pressure off — Atkin had already secured a medal before dropping into her final run.
Atkin's family and history
Atkin, 23, said the moment fulfilled a long‑held dream that began in 2018 when, as a 15‑year‑old, she watched her big sister Izzy win Winter Olympic bronze for Team GB in the Pyeongchang slopestyle. "I've dreamed about this, " she said, adding that her sister "has always been my biggest inspiration, she pushed me into the sport, she was always bullying me to jump off things on the mountain. " She called the result a "real full‑circle moment" because Izzy was present to support her and Atkin had been there when her sister won bronze. "Obviously I wanted to one‑up her a bit but it's really special that we both have the bronze, " she said, and added: "My mum is claiming that she's the first parent to have two Olympic medallists for GB in the family. "
Atkin's background and competition build‑up
Atkin, from Massachusetts, qualified in first place for the final and had come into her second Olympics fresh from winning the superpipe competition at last month's Aspen X Games. She entered Milan‑Cortina as the reigning world champion and had been aiming to improve on the ninth‑place finish she recorded on her Olympic debut in Beijing four years ago. She said she had been nervous about the final and "played it a little bit safe on my first run" before she "stepped it up a little bit on my third run. " She also said: "I've been working on my run for the past four years, even longer, and to be able to come back to the Olympics and be on the podium means so much to me. "
Team GB's fifth medal and records
Atkin's bronze was the fifth medal for Great Britain at the Milan‑Cortina Games, following three golds and a silver, equalling the team’s record‑best haul achieved in 2014 and 2018. Team GB had already secured three gold medals at these Games, the highest number the nation has ever won at a Winter Olympics, and a silver in the men's curling final on Saturday.
Historic golds and recent results
Last weekend Team GB made history with two golds: Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale won the first of those in the mixed team snowboarding event and did so in the mixed team snowboard cross exactly a week ago; Matt Weston and Tabby Stoecker secured the second of those golds in the mixed team skeleton. It was the first time Team GB had secured two gold medals on a single day at any previous Winter Games. Weston also won the men's singles skeleton title separately, giving him a second gold at these Games. In men's curling, the team led by Bruce Mouat lost to Canada in a tense final and settled for silver, repeating their result from Beijing in 2022.
Milano Cortina footprint and opening
The Games, held under the official banner of Milano Cortina, have been geographically widespread, stretching across almost 8, 500 square miles. Events have taken place in Alpine villages in Lombardy such as Bormio and Livigno, along with Anterselva and Val di Fiemme in Trentino‑Alto Adige, and they will wrap up with the closing ceremony in Verona. The opening ceremony at San Siro showcased Italy’s cultural history of music, art, fashion and dance; creative director Marco Balich had promised his team had devoted 700 hours of rehearsals. The show began with 70 dancers from the Accademia del Teatro alla Scala and included nods to Ancient Rome and the Renaissance, genuflections to Verdi, Puccini and Rossini, references to Armani, and supermodels in red, green and white.
Attendance and other moments
More than 1. 27 million spectators had bought tickets by the event's midway point, filling venues to an average 85% of capacity. Other moments across the Games included Norway's Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo setting a record with a fifth Olympic gold and 10th overall, and an early ice‑hockey moment where Matt Boldy put the USA ahead after a breakaway with assists from Auston Matthews and Quinn Hughes. Journalists such as Emma John and Angela Giuffrida contributed commentary and match coverage during the fortnight. Andrea Varnier, the Milano Cortina Games chief executive, said: "We know that this is not a" — unclear in the provided context.
eileen gu's gold in Livigno and Zoe Atkin's bronze together delivered a high‑profile finale to the freeski halfpipe competition, and the results both added to the narrative of Milano Cortina as one of the most widely spread and well‑attended Winter Olympics in recent history.
