BEIJING — A 524-foot-long ramp covered in snow surrounded by rusting industrial equipment ushered in a new age of freestyle skiing Tuesday.
Chinese star Eileen Gu's golden coronation in front of adoring home fans was an ideal start to the Olympic era for the freestyle skiing big air competition as a big crowd at Big Air Shougang watched the 18-year-old win her first of potentially three gold medals this month.
Adding big air for freestyle skiing to the 2022 Olympics was the first glimpse at the sport's future, but athletes are left trying to find the line between positive progression and overexposure that can dilute the sport's true ethos.