Winter Olympics 2026 - freestyle skiing: Live comments today as Team GB's Zoe Atkin claims halfpipe bronze and China's Eileen Gu wins gold
Updated 22/02/2026 at 11:46 GMT
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Winter Olympics 2026 freestyle skiing live comments. Follow live updates as Team GB's Zoe Atkin clinches bronze on the final day of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics in the women's halfpipe final. China's Eileen Gu - the most decorated freestyle skier of all time takes gold ahead of fellow Chinese athlete Fanghui Li in silver following pulsating final three runs.
Watch: 'My goodness!' - Gu overcome with emotion after sealing emphatic halfpipe gold
Video credit: TNT Sports
Zoe Atkin added a bronze medal to Team GB's tally, as Chinese star Eileen Gu took gold in the freestyle skiing halfpipe final.
Atkin started last on all three runs after posting the best qualifying score, but faced a tough challenge from Gu and fellow Chinese competitor Li Fanghui.
The British star laid down an early marker and posted the best score on the first of the runs.
Gu responded, after falling on her first run, to set a breathtaking score of 94.75, which catapulted the Chinese star to her third medal and first gold from Milano Cortina 2026.
Li provided a surprise package to take silver with 93.0, edging Atkin into bronze (92.5).
Olympics live: Fantastic bronze for Atkin
Despite not being able to match her Chinese rivals, Atkin can be proud of her bronze medal from Milano Cortina.
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Bronze medalist Zoe Atkin of Team Great Britain celebrates during the medal ceremony for the Women's Freeski Halfpipe Final on day sixteen of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Livigno Air Park on February 22, 2026 in Livigno, Italy.
Image credit: Getty Images
Olympics live: Gu overcome with emotion after taking gold
It has been a successful Olympic Games for Eileen Gu, who has capped it off with a fantastic gold in the women’s freeski halfpipe.
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Watch: 'My goodness!' - Gu overcome with emotion after sealing emphatic halfpipe gold
Video credit: TNT Sports
Olympics live: Final results
- 1 Gu (China) 94.75
- 2 Li (China) 93.0
- 3 Atkin (Great Britain) 92.5
- 4 Fraser (Canada) 88.0
- 5 Brown (Australia) 87
- 6 Zhang (China) 83.25
- 7 Karker (Canada) 79.5
- 8 Thomas (New Zealand) 77.75
- 9 Liu (China) 71.75
- 10 Gray (USA) 66.5
- 11 Irving (USA) 22.5
Olympics live: Atkin finishes in bronze
Atkin has one last shot at gold. She nails the run that she wants with five metres of amplitude.
The British athlete is delighted with her run. TNT Sports expert James Woods believes that this will go down to the ‘finest’ of details.
Woods said that Atkin has done ‘everything she can’. Atkin improves her score to 92.5 for bronze.
Olympics live: Li improves score, medal secured
Fanghui Li lands her third run consistently. TNT Sports expert James Woods says that he is ‘blown away’ with a technical ability. Li also has a great finishing trick which is clean.
Li improves her score to 93.0.
Olympics live: Brown improves score, Atkin secures medal
Brown starts with her biggest jump of the competition. She adds a 1080 to her run which is composed and ‘under control’.
The Australian shows her potential but lacked some technical marks. Her score is improved massively to 87. The result means that Atkin is secured a medal. But could it be gold?
Olympics live: Gu extends lead
The Chinese star is delighted as she heads towards a third medal of this Olympic Games. Gu has pulled out all the stops in this final run. TNT pundit James Woods reflects on a ‘wonderful run’.
The judges agree and her score is improved to 94.75.
Olympics live: Zhang falters into fifth
Kexin Zhang has the potential to challenge the medals. However, she misses some vital grabs and is in fifth with an 83.25.
Olympics live: Fraser remains in fourth after improvement
Amy Fraser looks to improve on her fourth position. A clean final run but lacks the amplitude that Atkin lands.
A switch 900 will help to boost her total. It’s an improvement to 88.0 but she remains in fourth.
Olympics live: Irving pulls up after missing run
After missing her second run Irving returns for her final run. She has a huge opening two jumps before pulling up to end her competition.
Olympics live: Thomas and Karker crash out
New Zealand Thomas is unable to improve her score after crashing. She loses the edges of her skis. Thomas attempts to continue her run, but has a clear problem with her skis and comes down again.
Canadian skier Karker also hits the surface hard early in her final run to end her competition.
Olympics live: Final runs underway
American Kate Gray sets the benchmark for the final runs by landing an ‘incredible’ right-side 720.
TNT pundit James Wood believes that her final hit was ‘something to be admired’ as he ‘denies rotational force’. She is rewarded with a 66.5 but won’t be in the medals.
Yishan Liu lands her third consistent run of these finals and seems happy with her efforts. The youngster won’t podium today but did improve her score to 71.75.
Olympics live: Standings after second of three runs
- 1 Gu 94.0
- 2 Li 91.50
- 3 Atkin 90.5
- 4 Fraser 85.0
- 5 Karker 79.5
- 6 Thomas 77.5
Olympics live: Atkin crashes on second run
An ‘outrageously’ big first jump of 5.4 metres sets the tone for Atkin’s second run. She continues to push the boundaries and just misses the re-entry of her third jump after a 540 and clips the tail of her skis on the wall.
Olympics live: Li moves above Atkin
Fanghui Li also puts down an ‘incredible’ run which puts her into medal contention. The Chinese athlete is awarded 91.5 and moves into second position.
Olympics live: Teenager Brown performs 1080
Aged just 16, Indra Brown puts a 1080 into her finals run. The Australian is the first competitor to put one into their run this morning.
However, her run lacks consistency and is scored 65.
Olympics live: Gu goes into first place
Eileen Gu lays down her marker.
Her amplitude doesn’t quite match Atkin. However, TNT pundit James Woods feels it was ‘fantastic’ with a nice switch 720. She also adds an extra hit and goes into first place with 94
Fellow, Chinese competitor Kexin Zhang crashed for the season time after failing to land a switch 900. After failing to land her first two runs all the pressure is on her in the final run.
Olympics live: Fraser fails to improve second placed score
Amy Fraser sets the tone for her second run with a switch 900 and some beautiful tricks in the air. However, she fails to improve on her 85 from the first run.
Meanwhile, fellow Canadian Rachael Karker lays down a ‘beautiful’ run and goes into fourth place with a 79.5 after falling during her first run.
Svea Irving is a non-starter after crashing during her first run.
Olympics live: Thomas loses her phone
New Zealander Mischa Thomas also doesn’t improve on her 77.75 on her first run. However, she lost her phone in the process, which took a heavy hit on the snow.
TNT pundit James Woods believes that athletes will have their own music on during the runs and keep phones in their pockets.
Olympics live: Second runs get underway
Kate Gray suffers a mistake on her bone-roll attempt resulting in the American coming down. The 19-year-old doesn’t improve on her first run of 44.5.
Chinese competitor Yishan Liu is next down the run with another consistent run but lacking the amplitude of the big scores. She also doesn’t improve on her 70.
Olympics live: Advantage Atkin
The pressure is firmly on Gu and the rivals of Atkin following that first run. Atkin can now push the limits of her ability in the final two runs after setting a benchmark.
Olympics live: Standings after first of three runs
- 1. Atkin 90.5
- 2. Fraser 85.0
- 3. Fanghui 81.25
- 4. Thomas 77.75
- 8. Gu 30.0
Olympics live: Atkin leads after first run
The final starter in this finals first run.
Atkin is focused and starts with a huge 540 with two huge first jumps. She is delighted with that first run after admitting to being nervous.
TNT pundit James Wood believes that ‘nobody is coming close’ to the height of Atkin. The British skier sets a target score of 90.5.
Olympics live: Sharpe non-starter after qualification fall
Canadian Cassie Sharpe fell heavily during qualifying on Thursday and won’t compete in today’s finals.
Australian Indra Brown lacked the required amplitude at the end of her first run and saw her score knocked down to 55.
Penultimate starter Fanghui Li has good altitude on her run and celebrates what she thinks is a good performance. The judges agree and she goes into second with 81.25.
Olympics live: Nightmare first run for Gu
Eileen Gu has a ‘surprising’ first run as she lands a massive four-metre jump heavily. She loses lots of speed and it marks the end of her first of three runs.
Fellow, Chinese competitor Kexin Zhang stepped up her run from qualification with a good run. However, she falls on the landing on her final trick off the wall. The score is knocked down to 24 as a consequence.
Olympics live: Fraser takes lead with 85 score
TNT Sports pundit James Woods loved that ‘amazing’ first run from Canadian Amy Fraser with her run including three switches, a flair and back-to-back 900s. She is rewarded with the leading score of 85.
Olympics live: Karker and Svea go down on first runs
Canadian Rachael Karker takes a slap on the landing of her first run while going for a big first air and goes down.
American Svea Irving follows with a huge aerial trick and lands a 900. However, she slightly misses a switch and also goes down.
Both will return for two further runs to lay down a good score.
Olympics live: Thomas leads way of first starters
The first of our Chinese skiers Yishan Liu gets her finals underway. She has three directions of switch which will please the judges.
Liu starts with a good score of 70 to build on. New Zealander Mischa Thomas is third down the ramp and misses a grab which impacted her score but she starts with a 77.75.
Olympics live: Grays gets us underway with first of three runs
Californian skier Kate Gray gets the finals competition underway. TNT pundit James Woods remarks on an ‘incredible’ bone-roll move at the bottom of her run.
The American lands the move a bit awkwardly and starts with a score of 44.5.
Olympics live: Odds stacked in China’s favour
China has four of the 12 athletes in this morning’s final. Gu wasn’t the best of them in qualifying as Fanghui Li was second behind Atkin and will be the penultimate starter.
Olympics live: Watch as Gu criticises training schedule
Gu has had a packed Olympic Games schedule and been rewarded with two silver medals so far.
However, the Chinese star spoke about feeling ‘depleted’ due to the packed schedule of training and competing at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games.
The Chinese athlete will certainly be grateful for the extra rest between Thursday's qualifying and today's final runs.
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'Exhausted' Gu criticises 'very disappointing' decision over Olympic training schedule
Video credit: TNT Sports
Olympics live – Atkin v Gu halfpipe final
TNT Sports expert James Woods feels there are only two contenders for the women's freeski halfpipe gold medal: Eileen Gu and Great Britain's Zoe Atkin.
Team GB medal hope Atkin has been made to wait before getting in on the action at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics - but will make her second Olympic appearance when qualifying gets underway for the halfpipe on Thursday (18:30 GMT, live on TNT Sports and discovery+).
Atkin could hardly be in a better vein of form heading into Milano Cortina, having picked up the X Games Aspen title just last month.
Olympics live – Better conditions this morning
Conditions are much better in Livignot this morning with visibility good and much more favourable for today’s halfpipe finals.
It is a crisp morning, but no blizzards like last night.
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A blizzard and a halfpipe flooded in snow - Fuller explains final postponement
Video credit: TNT Sports
Olympics live: Watch as Gu clips wall but qualifies in second
Eileen Gu, tipped to defend her crown from Beijing four years ago, fell in her first run, leaving her way off the pace.
The Chinese superstar, who has already banked two silver medals at these Games, was first in the start order and under pressure to even make Saturday’s final, but turned around a score of 86.50 to safely qualify.
Third place qualifier Cassie Sharpe scored 88.25 on her first run, before suffering a bad crash towards the end of her second run.
Sharpe was led away on a stretcher and wearing a neck brace but waving towards the large numbers of Canadian supporters.
She qualified for the final in third, but it remains to be seen whether she will be able to compete today.
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Gu clips lip of halfpipe in 'surprising' fall - 'Not the start she wanted'
Video credit: TNT Sports
Olympics live: Watch as Atkins nails ‘beautiful’ run to top qualifying
Team GB's Zoe Atkin qualified in first place in the women’s halfpipe final with a superb performance that will have caught her rivals' attention at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.
The 23-year-old, fresh off X Games glory, delivered an incredible opening run of 91.50 to send her straight to the top of the standings.
In her second run, she did not improve on her first score but safely got through the run, remaining at the top.
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Atkin nails 'beautiful' run to seal halfpipe qualification
Video credit: TNT Sports
Olympics live: Good morning
Hello and welcome to LIVE coverage of the re-arranged Women’s Freeski Halfpipe finals.
The final was originally scheduled to take place last night, but was re-scheduled due to the weather conditions.
Watch every event of Milano Cortina 2026 live on discovery+. Available across all subscription plans, starting at £3.99.
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