On Thursday night ET at the 2022 Winter Olympics, all eyes were on Eileen Gu of China as she won another gold medal, this time in the women’s freeski halfpipe. Earlier in this Olympics, she won gold in big air and silver in slopestyle.
Still to come on Friday morning ET: the second men’s hockey semifinal, between the Russian Olympic Committee team and Sweden, as well as the first two runs of the two-woman bobsled competition. Team USA has two medal contenders.
Kaillie Humphries and Elana Meyers Taylor — who won gold and silver, respectively, in the monobob — will pilot sleds against each other. Humphries, racing for Canada, won the two-woman event in the 2010 and 2014 Games while Meyers Taylor has won silver in the event in the last two Olympics. We’ll have live updates from the action here:
Gu wins another gold
In the final women’s freeski event of the Olympics, Gu, who is one of only two women who competed in all three freeski events in Beijing, took her third medal and second gold, this time in the halfpipe. She is the first freeski athlete to medal in three events in a single Games.
After the qualifier, Gu said she had more in store for the finals, and she didn’t disappoint. She took the lead with her first-run score of 93.25. But in her second run, she went even higher on her opening-hit 900 and added more spins and technicality, including back-to-back alley-oop flat spins for her final two hits. She was awarded with a nearly untouchable 95.25, a score that held for the remainder of the contest. — Alyssa Roenigk
She said she had more tricks – well here are MORE TRICKS 💥
Eileen Gu earns a 95.25 in her second run!!
📺: @USA_Network & @peacockTV | #WinterOlympics pic.twitter.com/SueHuW7OQp
— On Her Turf (@OnHerTurf) February 18, 2022
Humphries and Love are ready to go
Kaillie Humphries is a four-time Olympic medalist (with three golds, no less!).
Kaysha Love is a former track star who started bobsled training as a brakewoman in 2020.
The two will pair together in the two-woman on Friday ET:
Despite the above, and Love’s rookie status, it’s important to note: The duo won a World Cup in December together. They are absolutely medal favorites.
A tribute to Sarah Burke
It’s impossible to watch women’s freeskiing at the Olympics without thinking about Sarah Burke, a pioneer of the sport who fought for freeskiing’s inclusion in the Games. Burke died in a halfpipe training accident 10 years ago, two years before freeskiing was added to the 2014 Olympics.
Her influence is still felt in Beijing. Several recipients of Sarah Burke Foundation scholarships competed at these Games: Winter Vinecki, Liam Gill, Maddie Mastro, Tessa Maud, Dylan Ladd, Elena Gaskell, Megan Oldham and Kristy Muir. — Alyssa Roenigk
As always, we all #celebratesarah
— Trennon Paynter (@trennonpaynter) February 17, 2022
Event schedule (all times ET)
10:45 p.m.: Men’s skicross
1:05 a.m.: Men’s curling bronze-medal match — USA vs. Canada
3 a.m.: Men’s speedskating 1000m
5:30 a.m.: Pairs figure skating short program
7:00 a.m.: Women’s two-person bobsled, run 1
7:05 a.m.: Women’s curling semifinals — Japan vs. Switzerland/Sweden vs. Great Britain
8:10 a.m.: Men’s hockey semifinal — Russian Olympic Committee vs. Sweden
8:30 a.m.: Women’s two-person bobsled, run 2
