San Francisco’s Gu will have to wait until Sunday to attempt repeat as women’s halfpipe Olympic champion

By JOSEPH WILSON

LIVIGNO, Italy (AP) — The women’s Olympic freeski halfpipe final at the Milan Cortina Games will be held on Sunday, a day later than originally scheduled because of heavy snow in the Italian Alps.

The postponement of Saturday’s race is the latest winter weather hiccup to impact the program.

Defending champion Eileen Gu and the rest of the field will now have to wait until 10:40 a.m. local time Sunday to vie for the last medals up for grabs in Livigno, a ski town in a mountain valley near the Swiss border that has been home to the freeski and snowboarding events.

The International Ski and Snowboard Federation said the snow that accumulated on the halfpipe from constant flurries on Saturday made it impossible “to ensure a safe and fair competition for all athletes.”

The final had been scheduled for 7:30 p.m. local time on Saturday. Officials then pushed that back to 9:00 p.m. before saying it was off.

Snowstorms this week have caused delays and events to be reshuffled twice already in Livigno.

Earlier Saturday, the men’s skicross event was held amid flurries, and the freeskiers said the snow had made the course slow and extra demanding. Forty-year-old bronze medalist Alex Fiva called the skicross final “my toughest race ever” because of the conditions.

The women’s halfpipe final is the final event of the action sports events at the 2026 Games, which conclude on Sunday.

The final will feature Gu, the defending champion, going for her third medal of this year’s Games and her sixth in as many career Olympic events.

The 22-year-old Gu, who was born in the United States, lives in San Francisco and competes for China, has won two silvers in Italy, finishing second in both slopestyle and big air.

Four years ago, Gu, a Stanford student, became the first freestyle skier to win three medals in a single Olympics after she won gold in halfpipe and big air and silver in slopestyle at the 2022 Beijing Games.

Trying to stop her from repeating as the halfpipe champion will be Amy Fraser of Canada, the only skier to beat Gu in a major contest since she won Olympic gold four years ago. Zoe Atkin, an American-born skier who competes for Britain, is also eyeing the podium after she finished first in Thursday’s qualifying.

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AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics