Oldham takes Big Air gold, Italy wins first Freestyle Skiing medal, Gu ties Freestyle medal record

It was a dramatic, history-making night at the the Livigno Snow Park on Monday, when Megan Oldham (CAN) dethroned Eileen Gu (CHN) to claim Big Air gold, Italy won its first Olympic Freestyle Skiing medal through third-placed Flora Tabanelli (ITA), and Gu tied the all-time Freestyle Skiing Olympic medal haul with her fifth, in five Olympic competition starts.

A 75-minute delay to the start of the final due to bad weather only intensified the suspense and when the action got going, it got going in a big way, with four competitors scoring at least 90 points with their first run.

Lara Wolf (AUT), fourth to drop, stomped a never-been-done-in-competition switch left double bio 1260 safety for 93.50 points, eventual silver medalist Gu landed a double 1440 for 90.00 points, Tabenelli delivered a left double 1440 for 90.00 points and Oldham pulled out a switch left double 1260 for 91.75 points.

Tabanelli, who tore her ACL in November and elected not to have surgery on the injury in order to be able to compete at her home Olympic Winter Games, took the provisional lead with a switch left double 1080 on her second run, earning 84.00 points. But Oldham then took control after scoring 89.00 with a left double 1260 mute grab, and never relinquished the gold medal position (180.75).

With the snow continuing to fall, Tabanelli responded with a left double 1620 cindy on her third attempt for the highest single-run score of the night, earning 94.25 for a 178.25 total, erasing the score from her first run left double 1440.

Beijing 2022 champion Gu, who was awarded 61.25 points for her attempt at a left double 12 tail grab in the second run, repeated the trick with her final effort, improving to 89.00 for a 179.00 total.

And when Kirsty Muir (GBR) fell on her third run, Oldham secured gold.

Tabanelli, the 2024/25 Overall Park & Pipe and Big Air Crystal Globe winner, also made history at her home Games. Despite featuring in her first competition since tearing her ACL in November, the Olympic debutant delivered Italy’s first podium finish at the Games since Freestyle Skiing was introduced at Albertville 1992.

There was a double blow for the Swiss team on Monday as Anouk Andraska and Mathilde Gremaud were forced to withdraw from the final with a wrist and hip injury respectively. Both crashed during training. Beijing 2022 Big Air bronze medalist Gremaud qualified third after taking Slopestyle gold on 9 February.

For Slopestyle bronze medalist Oldham and Slopestyle silver medalist Gu, they claimed their second medal at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games on Monday. Gu has now tied moguls skier Mikael Kingsbury (CAN) for the most Olympic Freestyle Skiing medals. Both have two golds and three silvers, but while Kingsbury (CAN) has ended his Olympic career, the 22-year-old still has Halfpipe action still to come.