Gu Ailing wins women's freeski slopestyle gold at FIS World Cup Laax stop

GENEVA, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- China's Olympic champion Gu Ailing captured the women's gold medal at the FIS freeski slopestyle world cup stop in Laax, Switzerland, on Saturday.

The Laax final featured only two runs for each athlete, with the best score counting toward the final standings. Gu secured victory with 85.13 points from her first run, which stood as the highest score of the day. Marin Hamill from U.S. finished second with 71.38 points, while Austria's Lara Wolf took bronze with 67.85.

The Laax course was marked by innovative but demanding features. A spherical obstacle was introduced in the opening rail section, while the final jump section included a specially built "butter pad" designed to encourage creative takeoffs, placing greater demands on the athletes' ability to control their runs.

"I think every win gets harder, it becomes exponentially harder. So I'm really grateful to FIS for building such an amazing course, and I'm really proud of myself for the consistency that I've shown and being able to come back into slopestyle and show that I'm still here," said Gu.

With the conclusion of the Laax World Cup event, the qualification rankings for freeski park & Pipe events for the 2026 Winter Olympics will be finalized on January 18. Enditem