China's Gu Ailing dominates freeski halfpipe World Cup at Calgary

OTTAWA, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- With a stunning run on her victory lap, China's Gu Ailing topped the podium again at the 2021/22 FIS Freeski halfpipe World Cup in Calgary, Canada on Thursday.

It was a crazy past 24 hours for the 18-year-old who was in a different country with a lost passport a day ago. But Gu managed to show up alone at the Snow Rodeo late Wednesday night without any team member.

With only 45 minutes of training in the morning, Gu threw an already victorious first run that earned 95.20 points. Despite a second run of 88.00 points, Gu bettered her score in the third run - 96.80 to claim gold, finishing ahead of Hanna Faulhaber of the United States whose best score was 92.80. Canadian Rachael Karker took the bronze with 90.20 points.

"Honestly this was all about fun for me," said an excited Gu after the race. "I wanted to come out here and ski because it's fun for me and I wanted to do it. That was the goal and I had a great time today."

Gu has swept the pipe this season so far, winning the FIS freeski World Cup on December 10 and Dew Tour on December 17. She has also won the FIS freeski big air World Cup earlier this month.

With two victories in as many competitions, Gu ranks first in the FIS Freeski halfpipe World Cup standings with 200 points. Her compatriots Zhang Kexin and Li Fanghui are fourth and seventh, respectively.

The Freeski halfpipe World Cup will remain in Calgary for another competition on January 1, 2022, before moving to Mammoth Mountain, the United States on January 7 to wrap up the season.