BEIJING -- American-born Eileen Gu of China cranked out the first 1620 of her career on her final jump, stunning France's Tess Ledeux and earning the first of what she hopes will be three gold medals in women's freestyle big air.
Nicknamed the "Snow Princess," Gu is among the biggest local names at the Beijing Games. She's a medal favorite in big air, slopestyle and halfpipe. Her first stab at gold came down to the last round.
Ledeux is the only other woman to ever land a 1620 -- 4 ½ spins -- in competition, and she stomped one out with a slight wobble on the landing in Round 1.
Gu hinted after qualifying Monday that she might be able to match Ledeux. With everything on the line, she did.
The 18-year-old from San Francisco shrieked when she landed the jump, then dropped to her knees when her score of 94.50 was announced.
Ledeux tried to improve on her second run in Round 3, coming into the jump backward for a switch 1440. She was shaky on the landing, though, clearing the way for Gu's gold.
SKIING
American breaks leg
The U.S. ski team says American skier Nina O'Brien sustained a compound fracture of her left tibia and fibula after falling toward the end of the women's giant slalom at the Beijing Games. Monday's race had to be delayed for about 15 minutes when O'Brien slid across the finish line at the end of her second run. She was screaming in pain after stumbling through the last gate as her skis crossed in front of her. O'Brien was taken to hospital in Yanqing for "an initial stabilization procedure" and the team said she will return to the U.S. for further evaluation and care. The 24-year-old O'Brien had been sixth fastest after the opening run.
HOCKEY
Second Finn isolated
A second Finland men's hockey player has been taken to an isolation hotel after testing positive for the coronavirus in Beijing. Goaltender Jussi Olkinuora has joined forward Marko Anttila in isolation. The Finnish Olympic Committee confirmed Olkinuora was taken Monday and that Anttila remains there. A spokesman for the Finnish Olympic Committee says Olkinuora and Anttila recovered from covid-19 last month and tested negative to travel to Beijing. Neither Olkinuora nor Anttila have reported any symptoms. The Finnish Olympic Committee is unsure when either player could be released. The team plays its first game Thursday.
SKI JUMPING
Slovenia wins mixed event
Slovenia won the first Olympic ski jumping mixed team gold medal on Monday, taking advantage of jumpsuit violations by German Katharina Althaus and Japanese star Sara Takanashi. "The second jump, I'm a little bit nervous about all of these disqualifications," Nika Kriznar said. The team of Kriznar, Ursa Bogataj, Peter Prevc and Timi Zajc finished with 1,000.5 points, dominating the competition by more than 100 points. "Even if you count all the distances and judge points from the unlucky ones on today's competition, we should still be first so it's still great," Prevc said. Prevc jumped last and soared 333 feet and had 126.3 points to seal the top spot on the podium for the four Slovenians. The Russians won silver and Canada earned bronze, both of which were stunning results.
SPEEDSKATING
Wust skates into history
Ireen Wust can't really explain it. Something inside of her just changes when she gets to an Olympic Games. Her confidence soars. Her legs feel stronger. When she needs that little extra bit of speed, it's always there. "I don't know what it is," Wüst said. "I just see the rings and something magical happens." It happened again Monday, at the age of 35, pushing the Dutch speedskating star into a class of her own. Wust glided into the record books with a victory in the 1,500 meters at the Beijing Games, becoming the first athlete -- woman or man, winter or summer -- to claim individual gold medals at five different Olympics. Michael Phelps didn't do that. Neither did Carl Lewis. British rower Steve Redgrave won gold medals over five Olympics, but each of those victories came as part of two- or four-man teams. Wust did it all on her own. The enormity of her accomplishment has yet to sink in. "Of course it means a lot, but I don't realize it yet," said Wust, who plans to retire after the Olympics. "Ask me this question again in 10 days. I'm an emotional mess in my head."
SNOWBOARDING
Canadian fights to gold
Max Parrot was gearing up for another season at the top of snowboarding when he felt the lump in his neck. "I had to stop everything to fight," he said. That was three years ago. On Monday, the 27-year-old Canadian slopestyler's ride back to the top ended with an Olympic gold medal -- capping the sort of stirring comeback that reminds us why we forgive so many of the Olympic world's sins to get to the drama the Games inevitably deliver. A few weeks after first feeling the lump -- and 10 months after finishing second at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics -- Parrot was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma. He underwent 12 chemotherapy treatments over the span of six months. "I went through hell," said Parrot, who started riding when he was 9. "It was the first time I ever put my snowboard in the closet. I felt like a lion in a cage." Clearly, for an athlete of his caliber -- this was his 15th title at the Olympics, World Cup or Winter X Games -- getting back to snowboarding meant more than gentle rides through the backcountry. In the sport's biggest contest on one of the biggest courses these riders had ever seen, Parrot showed he could handle the best of the best. His victory run was a unique ride through the rails buffeted by ice-formed replicas of sections of the Great Wall, followed by three straight triple-corked jumps off the massive kickers. The highlight was the second jump. He approached the kicker from an angle instead of straight on -- nobody else tried that -- and flipped backward for 1440 degrees of spin, then stomped the landing. "By far, the biggest run of my entire career," he said.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki wears a United States Olympic Team pin as she speaks during a press briefing at the White House, Monday, Feb. 7, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Medical workers wearing protective gear prepares swabs for people taking part in the Beijing Winter Olympics torch relay activities at a coronavirus test site in Beijing, Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022. With more than 30 new COVID-19 cases being detected daily ahead of the Beijing Olympics, organizers said Wednesday they aren't worried and expect numbers to drop within days. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)