Mathilde Gremaud defends her Olympic slopestyle gold

The conditions were fine in Livigno today as eleven women (missing China’s Linshan Han, who qualified in fifth) stepped to the slopestyle course for their chance at Olympic glory. A hint of speed issues meant that the infamous taped pants were back in effect for some riders, and the sun was a bit in and out throughout the day, but otherwise, it was game on for the 2026 Milano-Cortina women’s freeski slopestyle finals.

Things got off to a good start as Italy’s Maria Gasslitter—who’d knocked out none other than Sarah Hoefflin out of the finals—landed a respectable run including a double cork 10. Next to drop was Mengting Liu of China, who upped the ante with right and left dub 10s in the jumps—a harbinger of things to come.

The eternal comeback kid Giulia Tanno, finally skiing in the Olympics after missing the last two due to injury, put down a strong run with two 900s and a dub 10 indy truck. But it was Megan Oldham who moved into the lead, linking a left dub 12 mute into a switch left dub 12 safety for a score of 79.76.

Among the top three qualifiers, Kirsty Muir send a right dub 10 huge but couldn’t hang on to hit the final jump, and Mathilde Gremaud served up a massive run with three doubles, but was a bit loose on execution. This left Eileen Gu with a shot for the early lead, and she took it in huge fashion: disaster switch 270 to the down-flat-down as the only woman to hit that feature, a 450 on to switch, and a switch misty 900 blunt, left dub 10 tail and right dub 12 safety in the jumps.

On the second run Megan Oldham, who was sitting in third, who looked to add a third double to run. She pulled out all the stops on a right double cork 1440, but lost control and took a brutal crash. Kirsty Muir was able to complete a full run to advance from 11th place to 6th.

Then, once again, we were treated to the spectacle of Eileen Gu and Mathilde Gremaud going blow for blow—a rivalry that’s already become legendary. This time around, Eileen came off early on her switch 270 disaster, opening a door that Mathilde quickly walked through. Left lip 270 to forward, 180 into a switch right 270 continuing 270, switch left 270 continuing 450, and then the hammers: switch right dub 10 japan, switch left dub 12 safety, left dub 12 safety, with none of the minor mistakes of the first run. 86.96 and into first place, ahead of Eileen by less than half a point.

On the third and final run, Canadian rookie Naomi Urness finally completed a full pull, lacing a big transfer with a front swap for one of the day’s highlights in the rails. It was good enough to lift her from 11th place to 6th. Megan Oldham also nailed her third run, but dialed back her third jump to a right 900 tail, improving her score but remaining in third place.

The pressure was on for Team GB’s Kirsty Muir, who had yet to lace a clean run. On her final attempt Kirsty put it all together and added a left double 1440 safety on her final hit, the biggest spin of the day—but it was another heavy landing on her right dub 10 that kept her off the podium in fourth place.

Then there were only two left to drop: the final showdown between Eileen and Mathilde. It was a showdown that came to an abrupt end when Eileen missed her first trick, the switch disaster 270, yet again—giving Mathilde Gremaud a well-deserved victory lap, wearing a Swiss flag like a Superwoman cape.

Yes, it was a bit anticlimactic in the end, and yes, it was nearly a repeat of the result four years ago, with Megan Oldham replacing Kelly Sildaru in third place. But it was a great contest nonetheless, with a strong field of women—many of them rookies—showing a higher level of trickery than ever before. And of course, the second, but maybe not the last, engagement of the great slopestyle rivalry of our time. Advantage, Gremaud!