MILAN (AP) — Small margins decided gold medals at the Milan Cortina Olympics as Eileen Gu had to settle for another silver in defense of her big air ski freestyle title and Elana Meyers Taylor of the U.S. finally won bobsled gold in her fifth Olympics.
Also on Day 10 of the Winter Games, a Norwegian contender’s emotional reaction overshadowed the last men’s Alpine ski event and the United States won its women's hockey semifinal game. Canada plays next, which could set up yet another gold medal decider between the old rivals.
Gu came to Italy to fight for gold medals in three different freestyle ski events. She has two silvers and still has her best event, the halfpipe, to go.
After a long delay because of heavy snow, it was Canada’s Megan Oldham who soared to victory with a combined score of 180.75 to Gu's 179.
It was still a remarkable performance from Gu, the San Francisco-born skier for China who hadn't competed in big air in the four years since winning gold at the 2022 Olympics.
The athlete who beat Gu to the gold in slopestyle last week, Switzerland's Mathilde Gremaud, was ruled out of the big air final when she injured her hip in practice hours before.
The wait is over for Meyers Taylor
Vancouver, Sochi, Pyeongchang, Beijing. Meyers Taylor won at least one medal at each of her first four Olympics, but the gold always eluded her.
The 41-year-old American won that long-awaited medal by just four hundredths of a second in women's monobob when the last competitor, Germany's Laura Nolte, made a small but costly mistake on her final run.
Meyers Taylor's sixth career medal extends her record as the most decorated Black athlete at the Winter Olympics. She's also the oldest American woman to win gold at the Winter Games.
Source: WPLG
