Eileen Gu of China performs a trick ahead of the women’s freestyle skiing Big Air final in Beijing on Feb. 8. She would ski to a gold medal in the event.Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
The rule for all Olympic crowds is no cheering and no crowding. Sit one seat apart. Clap if you must. But keep all droplets to yourself.
And then Eileen Gu showed up.
Beijing’s Olympic blueprint is pretty simple. Acquire another Games; repurpose existing facilities to accommodate winter sports; unleash Gu.
Her appearance at the Big Air final was as close as this Games has come to pandemonium. Social distancing went out the window. Cheering was general. At the most emphatic moments, a few masks came off. And that was before her remarkable come-from-behind gold medal performance.
She was second after the first jump and third after the second.
Needing something spectacular, Gu performed a jump that only two women have ever successfully planted in competition. She’s the second. The first had taken place about 45 minutes earlier. “I didn’t even know Eileen had that trick,” Canada’s Megan Oldham, who finished fourth, said afterward.
As her winning score came up, and just for a minute, you imagined yourself watching a normal Olympics. By the time they roll her out again on Sunday, it will be full-on Beatlemania.
Only 18 years old, Gu’s media polish is already at a high shine. The likes of Tom Brady could only wish to be this charismatic while saying things that are this boring.
“I’m so grateful for everything China has done for this Olympics,” Gu said. “I’m not here to beat other people. I’m here to push myself to the limit.”
She appeared to give similar answers in Mandarin and English – same intonations, same hand gestures. If it’s a script, it works as both a sales pitch, as well as a shield from criticism.
Gu’s golden moment on the podium, as seen live and on a big screen in Beijing.Matt Slocum/AP; Kevin Frayer/Getty Images
Largely unknown even a week ago outside China and X-Games circles, Gu’s backstory is suddenly a topic of general conversation.
She is the gift America (unwillingly) gave China – a California born, raised and trained freestyle skier who arrives here primed for multimedia stardom. She is the star who chose China (via her mother’s heritage).
According to some reports, she’s already making $20-million a year from Chinese endorsements. And that was before she’d done anything truly noteworthy.
She arrived at the big air final like Caesar coming into the forum. Every twitch elicited trills.
All the proper notes for an Olympic opening night had been hit – the huge build-up, the mild disappointment in qualifying (5th), the impossible pressure of the moment.
How big was this? IOC president Thomas Bach schlepped all the way out to the fringes of the city’s endless downtown to be there. Getting name-checked in the Closing Ceremonies? That’s love. Spending an hour in Beijing traffic? That’s respect.
Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai watches the Big Air finals.Jae C. Hong/The Associated Press
Even Chinese tennis player and (if you ask women’s tennis authorities) possible political prisoner Peng Shuai was there. Bach said afterward that he’d sat with Peng, that she was leaving the closed loop and going into quarantine before going home.
If this was her last public appearance, it’s telling that Peng chose to dovetail it with Gu’s emergence.
Peng, Bach’s relationship with Peng, Gu’s relationship with China – that’s a lot of controversial storylines meeting in one place. Through the washing machine of sport, they all come out laundered by victory.
Four days in and everybody’s already tired of yelling about geopolitics. A potential COVID meltdown hasn’t materialized. There is no unspooling multi-day outrage to focus on.
So, as it always does, the focus has narrowed onto sport. Who’s winning what?
Other countries need to win in bulk, across disciplines. China – no Winter Games power – has a more focused approach. If Gu does the business, that vindicates their billion-dollar party.
Industrial buildings loom behind Gu during her performance at a Feb. 7 qualifying round.Jae C. Hong/The Associated Press
Big Air was the correct place to begin this marketing assault.
The facility – a winter waterslide built in a derelict industrial zone – is an awesome venue. Not necessarily in a good way.
Surrounded by decommissioned nuclear-style smokestacks, it’s got a ‘Blade-Runner-before-the-yuppies-moved-in’ vibe. Alluring and vaguely horrifying, it may be the most 21st century sports setting in the world.
Big Air itself is the prototype ‘new’ Olympic sport. Visually impressive; a lot of fun; more than a bit silly. It’s sports for people who don’t have much patience for sports. Those people buy sneakers, too.
Gu has two more chances at gold, but she is already a total triumph. First impressions matter in a lot of places, but nowhere so much as an Olympics. She is now cemented in the public imagination as the comeback kid.
Whatever happens next just adds to the legend.
That makes the next week and a bit a kind of masterclass in modern sports marketing.
Used to be, being a great sportswoman or man meant you were really good at running/throwing/scoring. Not any more.
Ask Mike Trout. He may be the best baseball player who ever lived, and you couldn’t pick him out of a three-man line-up at spring break in Ft. Lauderdale.
These days, you need a full array of interests and entry points in order to diversify your content creation.
Watch Canadian snowboarder Mark McMorris work a mixed-zone. He may be freezing and tired and, sure, he’s not the gold medallist, but nobody is hitting his marks harder.
Still chipper; still delivering the same practised punchlines; still pumping his sponsors’ tires. That is modern athletics.
An advertisement features Gu at an Anta store at a Beijing shopping mall.Tingshu Wang/Reuters
Gu isn’t just the entire package. She’s the manufacturer and the delivery system. She has the quality, the look and the polish, without any dangerous tendency to run off script.
Her CV is so perfect – a bilingual best-in-class who’s a fashion influencer, a would-be supermodel, a goofy tomboy and a Stanford STEM freshman – that you suspect she was lab-generated.
If you ask Gu why she switched America for China, you’ll get a boilerplate answer about “the opportunity to inspire millions of young people where my mom was born.”
She gave a version of it again at the big air competition. She was self-aware enough to begin it by saying, “My message has been the same forever …”
Yes, of course. What tween doesn’t see an attractive stranger doing backflips on skis and think, ‘Maybe I can be president!’
But she’s right inasmuch as she has now joined the global sporting power elite. What she does from here on out is news.
Only a few athletes belong in that club and most of them play professionally year-round. Gu’s got another ten days to make her pitch.
All she must do is win again, and then not say anything anyone can wrap an outraged headline around.
So far, so good.
One down. Conquering the whole world still to go.
How does Olympic freestyle skiing work? A visual guide
BEIJING 2022
Qualification
Speed, showmanship and the ability to perform aerial manoeuvres whilst skiing is the essence of freestyle skiing. The discipline was contested as a demonstration sport at Calgary 1988 and made its Olympic debut with mogul events at Albertville 1992. Freestyle skiing was affectionately known as ‘hotdogging’ in the 1970s.
Athletes are evaluated on overall composition of the run, sequence and variety of tricks, the amount of risk in the routine, and how they use the course
Ski boots protect against jolts and bumps
Helmet is mandatory
Gloves are compulsory
Ski poles facilitate balance and enable stopping
Goggles protect eyes against weather and UV rays
EVOLUTION OF EVENTS
Halfpipe,
Slopestyle
Moguls
Athletes ski down a slope while negotiating a series of bumps or moguls, performing two jumps along the way.
75m–125m
Length
200m–250m
Aerials
Athletes ski down a short in-run before launching themselves into the air and performing tricks for style points.
Length
115m–135m
Ski Cross
Four racers in each qualifying heat race down the course in a single knockout run. The top two advance to next round.
180m–250m
Length
800m–1,200m
Halfpipe
Competitors go from one side to the other and perform tricks while in the air above the sides of the pipe.
Length
155m–195m
Slopestyle
Athletes perform spins, flips, grinds and grabs on a mix of technical street-style obstacles and launch ramps.
125m–175m
Length
500m–600m
Big Air
Skiers ride down a ramp to launch off a large ski jump that propels them into the air where they perform tricks.
40m–
50m
Length
125m–175m
SOURCE: REUTERS
BEIJING 2022
Qualification
Speed, showmanship and the ability to perform aerial manoeuvres whilst skiing is the essence of freestyle skiing. The discipline was contested as a demonstration sport at Calgary 1988 and made its Olympic debut with mogul events at Albertville 1992. Freestyle skiing was affectionately known as ‘hotdogging’ in the 1970s.
Athletes are evaluated on overall composition of the run, sequence and variety of tricks, the amount of risk in the routine, and how they use the course
Ski boots protect against jolts and bumps
Helmet is mandatory
Gloves are compulsory
Ski poles facilitate balance and enable stopping
Goggles protect eyes against weather and UV rays
EVOLUTION OF EVENTS
Halfpipe,
Slopestyle
Moguls
Athletes ski down a slope while
negotiating a series of bumps
or moguls, performing two
jumps along the way.
75m–125m
Length
200m–250m
Aerials
Athletes ski down a short in-run
before launching themselves
into the air and performing
tricks for style points.
Length
115m–135m
Ski Cross
Four racers in each qualifying heat
race down the course in a single
knockout run. The top two
advance to next round.
180m–250m
Length
800m–1,200m
Halfpipe
Competitors go from one side to
the other and perform tricks
while in the air above the
sides of the pipe.
Length
155m–195m
Slopestyle
Athletes perform spins, flips,
grinds and grabs on a mix of
technical street-style obstacles
and launch ramps.
125m–175m
Length
500m–600m
Big Air
Skiers ride down a ramp to launch
off a large ski jump that propels
them into the air where they
perform tricks.
40m–
50m
Length
125m–175m
SOURCE: REUTERS
BEIJING 2022
Qualification
Speed, showmanship and the ability to perform aerial manoeuvres whilst skiing is the essence of freestyle skiing. The discipline was contested as a demonstration sport at Calgary 1988 and made its Olympic debut with mogul events at Albertville 1992. Freestyle skiing was affectionately known as ‘hotdogging’ in the 1970s.
Athletes are evaluated on overall composition of the run, sequence and variety of tricks, the amount of risk in the routine, and how they use the course
Ski poles facilitate balance and enable stopping
Ski boots protect against jolts and bumps
Helmet is mandatory
Goggles protect eyes against weather and UV rays
Gloves are compulsory
EVOLUTION OF EVENTS
Halfpipe,
Slopestyle
Moguls
Athletes ski down a slope while negotiating a series of bumps or moguls, performing two jumps along the way.
Aerials
Athletes ski down a short in-run before launching themselves into the air and performing tricks for style points.
75m–125m
Length
200m–250m
Length
115m–135m
Ski Cross
Four racers in each qualifying heat race down the course in a single knockout run. The top two advance to next round.
Halfpipe
Competitors go from one side to the other and perform tricks while in the air above the sides of the pipe.
180m–250m
Length
800m–1,200m
Length
155m–195m
Slopestyle
Athletes perform spins, flips, grinds and grabs on a mix of technical street-style obstacles and launch ramps.
Big Air
Skiers ride down a ramp to launch off a large ski jump that propels them into the air where they perform tricks.
VANCOUVER – As the Major League Soccer season ticks down, Vanni Sartini wants his Vancouver Whitecaps to make a declaration — the team is ready to compete.
“The time of hiding ourselves, I think it’s over,” the coach said after the ‘Caps earned a 2-0 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday.
“We need to really say that we are here to try to be at the ball until the end and trying to shoot for the highest position. That doesn’t mean that we’re going to make it, but we have the quality to do it.”
With seven games left on their regular-season schedule, the ‘Caps (13-8-6) sit in fifth spot in the congested Western Conference, just two points out of fourth.
Saturday’s loss officially eliminated the last-place Earthquakes (5-21-2) from post-season action.
Vancouver has been on a hot streak since returning from the Leagues Cup break and is unbeaten (3-0-1) in its last four outings across all competitions. The team has not allowed a goal in those matches.
“It’s the fact that we play really well,” Sartini said of the clean sheets. “We have the ball a lot, we finish our attack most of the time in their box. So it’s really hard for the other team to attack us. And then when they attack us, in the rare times that they arrive in the final third, we’re very solid.”
Recent additions have bolstered the team’s ranks, including the club’s newest designated player, Stuart Armstrong. The 32-year-old Scottish midfielder scored his first MLS goal Saturday.
Three minutes after coming on as a substitute for Alessandro Schopf, Armstrong gave Vancouver a two-goal cushion in the 87th minute.
Midfielder Pedro Vite dished a short pass to ‘Caps captain Ryan Gauld, who tapped it toward Armstrong. The former Southampton FC player then blasted a shot into the top of the net for his first strike in a Whitecaps’ jersey.
He was mobbed by teammates in the corner of the field.
“I think everyone was happy. Also for the first goal, but also that it was an important three points,” said Armstrong, who signed with the ‘Caps on Sept. 3.
“It kind of felt a little bit like last week, when we had a lot of chances and we didn’t get the three points. So today, I think everyone was just relieved to have that two-goal cushion.”
Vancouver was the dominant team from the outset Saturday and did not relent, outshooting the visitors 19-5 and controlling 54.1 per cent of possession.
Fafa Picault also found the back of the net for Vancouver, while Gauld contributed a pair of assists.
Whitecaps goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka stopped both shots he faced to collect his seventh clean sheet of the year, while Daniel made nine saves for the Quakes.
Gauld and Picault teamed up in the 22nd minute when Gauld curled a cross in and the Haitian striker headed it down toward the net, only to see Daniel catch a piece of the shot with his forearm and redirect it out of harm’s way.
The duo connected again in the 35th minute on a Vancouver corner. Gauld swung a ball in and Picault jumped up from the pack to send a glancing header in past Daniel for his ninth MLS goal of the season.
San Jose briefly appeared to level the score in the 68th minute when an unmarked Ousseni Bouda collected the ball, froze Takaoka and tapped a shot into the Vancouver net. An official quickly raised the offside flag and waved off the tally.
Daniel kept San Jose’s deficit to a single goal with a pair of solid stops in the 82nd minute.
First, the Brazilian ‘keeper dove sideways on his line to tip away a bomb from Alessandro Schopf. He was tested again on the ensuing corner and jumped up to send a header from Picault over the crossbar.
“I think we created a lot of chances again,” Gauld said.
“We probably should have put the game out of their reach sooner. But we’d be more worried if we weren’t creating the chances. Three clean sheets in a row in the league, I think it’s a big thing for us. And it gives us a good platform to go forward.”
NOTES
Vancouver played without leading scorer Brian White for a third consecutive game as the American striker works his way back from a concussion. … Gauld’s second assist marked his 15th goal contribution (six goals, nine assists) in his last 15 Whitecaps games across all competitions. … An announced crowd of 21,309 took in the game at B.C. Place.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps kick off a two-game road swing Wednesday against the Houston Dynamo. The Earthquakes host the Seattle Sounders the same night.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2024.
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Not good enough. That was Arne Slot’s verdict after his first defeat as Liverpool manager on Saturday.
A shock 1-0 loss at home to Nottingham Forest in the English Premier League ended Slot’s perfect record since succeeding Jurgen Klopp at Anfield at the end of last season.
“We had a lot of ball possession but only managed to create three (or) four quite good chances, so that is by far not enough if you have so much ball possession,” said the Dutchman, who suggested his team should not be losing to the likes of Forest.
“If you lose a home game it’s always a setback, especially if you face a team … we never know, maybe they will go all the way to fight for Champions League tickets, but normally this team is not ending up in the top 10, so if you lose a game against them that’s a big disappointment.”
Slot won his first three games in charge, including a memorable 3-0 victory against Manchester United before the international break.
But that run came to an end after Callum Hudson-Odoi struck in the 72nd with a curling effort from the edge of the box and beyond goalkeeper Alisson.
Liverpool’s defeat leaves Manchester City as the only team with a 100% record in the league after a 2-1 win against Brentford kept the defending champion at the top of the table.
United won at Southampton 3-0 to end its two-game losing streak.
Unstoppable Haaland
Erling Haaland moved to 99 goals for City after scoring twice against Brentford.
The Norwegian’s double came after Yoane Wissa fired Brentford ahead with just 22 seconds on the clock.
Haaland scored his 98th and 99th goals in his 103rd City appearance in all competitions. And he was the width of the post away from his third consecutive hat trick after trebles against Ipswich and West Ham.
“He’s been really, really good. Yeah, I would say he’s the best (he’s been), but it’s only four fixtures (this season),” City manager Pep Guardiola said.
Haaland, who has been nominated for the Ballon d’Or, has nine goals in four league games. He has topped the league scoring charts in each of his two seasons at City since joining from Borussia Dortmund in 2022 for $63 million.
Haaland’s first goal after 19 minutes evened the game following Wissa’s opener, which stunned the Etihad Stadium crowd. Haaland turned and swept a shot past goalkeeper Mark Flekken after a slight deflection off Ethan Pinnock.
He was then too strong for Pinnock when shaking off the defender and running through for his second in the 32nd.
He was inches away in the 81st; the shot came back off the post after beating the keeper.
Rashford snaps run
Marcus Rashford snapped a 12-game barren run in front of goal as United beat Southampton.
Rashford doubled United’s lead at Saint Mary’s after Matthijs de Ligt’s scored his first for the club. Substitute Alejandro Garnacho scored a third in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
The win came after back-to-back defeats for United.
Rashford hadn’t scored since March in United’s win over Liverpool in the FA Cup quarterfinals. He curled in a shot from the edge of the area to put Erik ten Hag’s team 2-0 up at Southampton in the 41st minute.
Ten Hag said it could be a turning point for the forward.
“For every striker, they want to be on the scoring list. Once the first is in, more is coming. Like a ketchup bottle, once it’s going, it’s coming more,” he said.
De Ligt, who joined United from Bayern Munich in the offseason, headed in from Bruno Fernandes’ cross in the 35th.
It could have been a different story if Cameron Archer converted a penalty for Southampton in the 33rd. Instead, his effort was saved by goalkeeper Andre Onana.
Newly promoted Southampton was reduced to 10 men when Jack Stephens was sent off in the 79th for a high challenge on Garnacho.
Villa comeback
After three straight defeats to start the league, Everton looked set for its first win when leading Aston Villa 2-0.
Goals from Dwight McNeil and Dominic Calvert-Lewin put Sean Dyche’s team in control until Ollie Watkins struck twice to even the game.
Jhon Duran completed Villa’s comeback and sealed a 3-2 win in the 76th to leave Everton rooted to the bottom of the table and the only top flight team without a point.
Late drama
Jean-Philippe Mateta converted a stoppage time penalty to salvage a 2-2 draw for Crystal Palace against Leicester.
Leicester led 2-0 at Selhurst Park after goals from Jamie Vardy and Stephy Mavididi.
But Mateta sparked Palace’s response with a goal in the 47th, a minute after Mavididi doubled Leicester’s advantage.
Conor Coady fouled Ismaili Sarr in the box right near fulltime and Mateta was cool enough to convert.
West Ham left it even later to salvage a point in a 1-1 draw at Fulham.
Danny Ings struck in the fifth minute of added time after Raul Jimenez’s goal looked like earning Fulham the win.
Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler, the manager of the month for August, was frustrated as his team was held to 0-0 at home by Ipswich.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Restricted free agent forward Isaac Okoro has agreed to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Okoro’s new deal is worth $38 million, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been signed or announced by the team.
ESPN.com first reported the agreement, citing Okoro’s representation.
The fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, Okoro is Cleveland’s best perimeter defender, often drawing the assignment of guarding the opponent’s top scorer. Okoro also has worked to improve his offensive game.
The 23-year-old averaged 9.4 points and 3.0 rebounds in 69 games — 42 starts — last season for the Cavs, who beat Orlando in the opening round of the playoffs before losing to eventual champion Boston.
Okoro shot a career-best 39% on 3-pointers, forcing teams to come out and guard him.
His agreement caps an extraordinarily busy summer for the Cavs that began with coach J.B. Bickerstaff being fired and replaced by Kenny Atkinson. All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell signed a three-year, $150 million extension in July, ending months of speculation that he wanted out of Cleveland.
Also, power forward Evan Mobley signed a five-year, $224 deal and center Jarrett Allen signed a three-year, $91 million extension.
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