Olympic ski slopestyle qualifier postponed due to wind, snow

this is Eileen Gu, the 18 year old to americans, she's the one who got away 18 year old superstar free skier Eileen Gu born in the US, which is going to have to see if she can handle the pressure that's on their shoulder today now competing for china, starting it off beautifully right there. She made the move at 15 athletes do switch country sometimes, but never like this. Just look at the reception that she's getting here to see her compete here at the big air event is to see a smitten nation and she's good at asking and I like doing well. She is a superstar in china. She worked very hard and she's study very hard and she always want to do the bags. Goo knows their expectations of her to win a lot important to china. It's been slipping in recent winter olympic medal totals. So Goo has become the face of china's team. A film about the olympic torch features her. There are sponsorship deals, a lot of them for the part time model and then there are the crucial photos alongside china's President Xi Jinping because we're talking China and the United States, this is about a lot more than sports and it sometimes gets cruel. It's ungrateful. Like a child that says I'm out of here, I'm moving somewhere else after being raised in a warm home. Eileen Gu is hardly living a difficult life. Her sponsorship deals now, so lucrative, she's thought to be amongst the highest earning female athletes in the world reflects the the kind of social contract that many chinese are under when they're in china, that you're free to make as much money as you can, but you're really not allowed to cross those red lines on politics or human rights and that's the case for not just for Eileen, it's the case for every corporation that comes into china and goo is careful, swarmed by reporters wherever she goes, fluent in mandarin, proud to talk of helping bring winter sports to china and then easily switching to english. What's your life has changed that question hits because I was just reflecting on that recently. It's actually unbelievable the amount of support that I've gained um out here in china and internationally really I have always said, you know, thank you so much to the us for all of the support they've given me and the support they continue to give me. And of course, you know, the fans out here in china, it's unbelievable, is an inspiring young lady. The spotlight stardom has to be heavy even for a world leader in a sport that already feels like flying and what a story for Eileen gu her first olympics, her first event, her first gold and social media around the world is going crazy, particularly here in china and just to give you a sense of, of the pressure in the stakes thomas bach president, the IOC was there at the big air event. All eyes have been on who's with him, We know that you know that the chinese tennis player punctually has been going to a number of events along with box. So people are keeping an eye on the pictures to see if she is there. He is the one who is presenting the medals and this is just the first of three events for her china is has been hoping on three goals from Eileen Gu. She still has to go through half, half pipe and slope style and so far so very, very good for her. Absolutely. On this first night she nailed it. Thanks Adrian.

Olympic ski slopestyle qualifier postponed due to wind, snow

Updated: 12:07 AM EST Feb 13, 2022

Freestyle skier Eileen Gu's quest for a second gold medal at the Beijing Games ran into a detour when high wind and snow postponed the qualifying round for slopestyle on Sunday.No immediate plan for rescheduling was announced. The final is currently set for Monday morning and puts the gold-medal round directly against the Super Bowl, which is being televised on the Olympic network, NBC.Gu, who was born and raised in the United States, has become an even bigger star in China, the country where her mother is from and that the 18-year-old from San Francisco chose to represent. Gu won gold in big air last Tuesday.Already at the top of the hill, Gu was stretching and getting ready for some warmup runs in the blustery conditions when qualifying was postponed. The snow was blowing sideways and the flags on the bottom of the course were whipping in all directions. The visibility also was low, which makes landing jumps off the massive kickers along the course a dangerous proposition.Gu's victory in big air sparked such a celebration that Sina Weibo, the massive social network that is similar to Twitter, found its servers temporarily overloaded, according to Chinese media.

ZHANGJIAKOU, China —

Freestyle skier Eileen Gu's quest for a second gold medal at the Beijing Games ran into a detour when high wind and snow postponed the qualifying round for slopestyle on Sunday.

No immediate plan for rescheduling was announced. The final is currently set for Monday morning and puts the gold-medal round directly against the Super Bowl, which is being televised on the Olympic network, NBC.

Gu, who was born and raised in the United States, has become an even bigger star in China, the country where her mother is from and that the 18-year-old from San Francisco chose to represent. Gu won gold in big air last Tuesday.

Already at the top of the hill, Gu was stretching and getting ready for some warmup runs in the blustery conditions when qualifying was postponed. The snow was blowing sideways and the flags on the bottom of the course were whipping in all directions. The visibility also was low, which makes landing jumps off the massive kickers along the course a dangerous proposition.

Gu's victory in big air sparked such a celebration that Sina Weibo, the massive social network that is similar to Twitter, found its servers temporarily overloaded, according to Chinese media.