Eileen Gu wins silver for 5th Olympic medal. Canadian Megan Oldham's gold is her 2nd of the Games

LIVIGNO, Italy (AP) — Eileen Gu last competed in a big air contest four years ago. She learned the trick that helped her reach the medals stand Monday night four days ago. Then, in a frenzied training session before the snowy Olympic final, she tried an even bigger trick, but hit her head on the landing and cracked her helmet.

Given all that, finishing second, a mere 1.75 points behind Canada's Megan Oldham, felt like a victory, not a loss for the sport's best-known star. Given all that, picking up a fifth medal in the five events she has entered over two Winter Olympics felt like a time to celebrate, not think about what might have been.

“‘Five-time Olympic medalist’ kind of has a nice ring to it,” Gu said.

While Gu has two silvers at these Olympics — one in slopestyle and the latest in big air — Oldham, the 24-year-old from Parry Sound, Ontario, has a bronze and a gold.

Egged on by her older brother, Bruce, who is also a pro freeskier, Oldham traded in gymnastics and figure skating a handful of years ago to start catapulting herself off mountains. The other sports taught her a lot about “air awareness, and spinning in general,” she said.

It also took her from a pair of dangerous sports to one that borders on death-defying. In this Olympic big air contest, the adrenaline junkies have to ride an actual elevator to the top of a scaffolding on which sits a man-made hill 165 feet in the air.

“A brutal sport,” Oldham called it. “A lot of times when you're learning these new tricks, you can fall pretty hard.”

She suffered a concussion in December and said she felt pressure, not knowing if she could make it back in time for the Olympics.

“Just coming back from that alone, I'm pretty proud of myself,” Oldham said.

So was bronze medalist Flora Tabanelli, who took bronze for Italy's 23rd medal of the Games. She's four months removed from a torn ACL. She decided to compete in a brace instead of opting for season-ending surgery.

“Three months ago, after the injury, I thought I wouldn't make it here,” she said. “When I arrived here and said to myself, ‘I feel pretty good,’ it was already a win.”

Gu, naturally, came to Italy with better name recognition and higher expectations than anyone else in the snowpark.

After her first jump, a 1440-degree whirl that put her in medal contention, she ran to the stands to celebrate. She had friends from college and from junior high who took advantage of the three-day weekend in the United States to come watch.

She's the sport's only three-event athlete. So, over the past few years, something had to give between all the skiing, Stanford University, modeling and globe-trotting between her native U.S. and her mom's home country of China, the country she competes for. That one thing was big air.

She had not been on an entry sheet for the sport's highest-flying discipline since the day she left Beijing four years ago with the first of two gold medals in tow.

“If you'd asked me four days ago and said, ‘What tricks are you going to do in the final?’ I'd be, like, ‘I’m in the final?'” she said.

During warmups for the final, she crashed while trying a 1620-degree spin, the likes of which won her that gold.

She was fortunate that a near blizzard rushed through the snowpark shortly after, delaying the start by 75 minutes and giving her a chance to rest in a dark room. The contest itself was held under a moderate snow (which can slow down the run) and no wind.

“I really needed those ... minutes,” she said. “I don't think the outcome would've been the same, to be honest with you.”

Oldham's victory came on her other brother, Cody's, 18th birthday. “He can celebrate with us,” she said.

For Gu, there was no time for rest.

She hasn't skied halfpipe since December. She was frustrated to have missed one of the three halfpipe training sessions the rest of the skiers are getting for a qualifying round that starts Thursday. She now has two days to make up for lost time. Halfpipe is maybe her best event — it's where she's captured 15 of her record-setting 20 World Cup wins.

“I think it was Kobe (Bryant) who said the greatest athletes have the shortest memories, and I try to follow that,” Gu said. “I am in goldfish mode, I finish this and go straight into the next.”

As for the notion that she has anything left to prove — or anything to be disappointed about after picking up another silver medal, which gives her more Olympic medals than any woman in the history of freestyle skiing — she let loose a chortle.

“Winning a medal in the Olympics is a life-changing experience, and doing it five times is exponentially hard,” she said. “The ‘two medals lost’ perspective is ridiculous to take. I am showcasing my best skiing and doing things that have never been done before, so that is more than enough.”

Associated Press writer Joseph Wilson contributed to this report.

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Silver medalist China's Eileen Gu celebrates with fans after the women's freestyle skiing big air finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Gold medalist Canada's Megan Oldham hugs a teammate after winning the women's freestyle skiing big air finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Silver medalist China's Eileen Gu, left, hugs gold medalist Canada's Megan Oldham after the women's freestyle skiing big air finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Canada's Megan Oldham reacts during the women's freestyle skiing big air finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Canada's Megan Oldham competes in the women's freestyle skiing big air qualifications at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Heavy snow falls before the women's freestyle skiing big air finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Andy Bao)

Medics tend to Switzerland's Mathilde Gremaud after she crashed during practice before the women's freestyle skiing big air finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

China's Eileen Gu practices before the women's freestyle skiing big air finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

China's Eileen Gu practices before the women's freestyle skiing big air finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

China's Eileen Gu waits for her scores as she competes in the women's freestyle skiing big air qualifications at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

China's Eileen Gu waits for her score as she competes in the women's freestyle skiing big air qualifications at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

PREDAZZO, Italy (AP) — A disappointing Olympics for Austria's ski jumpers turned to gold Monday on the final night of competition in the debut of the men’s super team ski jump at the Milan Cortina Games.

Jan Hoerl and Olympic rookie Stephan Embacher led through the event before a snow squall forced the cancellation of the final round of the event.

Poland took silver and Norway won bronze.

The result was redemption for Austria, which won the men’s team event in Beijing in 2022, but had not reached the podium in this Olympics.

“The last 10 days were hard for our team so it was the last chance today,” said Hoerl, who was part of the 2022 winning team. “We knew that, so we kept focused and we were able to enjoy five good jumps. It’s amazing, unbelievable.”

Hoerl's best individual finish had been a fifth on the men's large hill and Embacher's had been a pair of seventh place finishes on each hill. Both had also been on the mixed team that finished fifth.

The new format replaced the former four-man team contest on the large hill with teams of two. Seventeen nations jumped in the first round and the top 12 made the second round. The best eight moved on to the final.

But as heavy snow and wind held up competition with only a few skiers left to make their final jump, the round was canceled and the second round standings determined the winners.

Sandro Pertile, race director for the international ski federation, said the heavy, wet snow was slowing speeds on the in-run and the shift in winds was going to create unfair conditions for the remaining competitors.

Hoerl opened with a 137.5-meter (451-foot) jump and Embacher in the second round landed a 139-meter (456-foot) jump, the longest in the contest.

“My first time and to be Olympic champion is unbelievable,” Embacher said. “It was a great day.”

Austria led Slovenia, Poland, Germany and Japan after the first round. Poland moved into second and Norway into third as Slovenia slid into fifth place after the second round.

The result delivered a third medal for Poland's Kacper Tomasiak, a rookie in his first year on the World Cup circuit, who has been the surprise of men's Olympic ski jumping, winning a silver on the normal hill and a bronze on the large hill. He was paired with Pawel Wasek, whose best Olympic finish had been sixth in a team event in 2022.

“We are very happy, but I think we still can’t believe that it happened," Tomasiak said.

Norway's Johann André Forfang, who had won gold on the large hill and silver on the normal hill in Pyeongchang in 2018 but had not had a good Olympics before Monday was paired with Kristoffer Eriksen Sundal, who won silver in the mixed team event.

Forfang was suspended last year in a jumpsuit-tampering scandal that brought shame to the country that invented the sport.

Forfang and teammate Marius Lindvik were suspended for three months last year after their coaches and a staff member were caught on camera adding stitching to stiffen the crotch area to help the athletes fly farther.

Neither Lindvik nor Forfang was charged with knowing about the manipulation, but FIS said they “should have checked and asked questions about the nighttime adjustments.”

The team leaders involved were recently banned from the sport for 18 months.

Going into the final round, only a few points separated Germany, Slovenia and Japan from a medal.

Japan’s Ren Nikaido, who has won a medal in every ski jump at this Olympics, landed a third jump of 138 meters, which could have put Japan on the podium had the final round not been canceled before Ryoyu Kobayashi's final jump.

Slovenia’s Domen Prevc, the dominant skier this season, was one of the few jumpers to fly in the heavy snow, with a poor result of 124.5 meters.

Germany’s Philipp Raimund, who won gold on the normal hill, then flew 136 meters through the snow, putting his country in the lead with four jumpers — all with higher second-round scores — remaining.

Tomasiak was the last skier to fly through the flakes, coming up short and putting Poland in third behind Slovenia.

Norway, Japan and Austria’s final skiers were left at the top of the hill when the event was ended.

Raimund said it was sad ending up in fourth place.

The result meant Prevc could not add to the gold medals he won on the men’s large hill and in the mixed team competition in his first Olympics — or to his family's famous collection. He blamed his team's finish on the poor landing of his second jump.

“It was almost third place, but overall it is a bit sour for me," Prevc said. “Unfortunately, we have to take this as it is.”

He said canceling the round, though, was the right decision.

The U.S. team of Kevin Bickner and Tate Frantz made it to the final round but ended up in eighth place.

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Gold medalists Stephan Embacher and Jan Hoerl, of Austria, pose on the podium, with silver medalists Pawel Wasek and Kacper Tomasiak, of Poland, and bronze medalists Kristoffer Eriksen Sundal and Johann Andre Forfang, of Norway, after the ski jumping men's super team competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Predazzo, Italy, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Pawel Wasek, left, and Kamil Stoch, both of Poland, wait while a snowfall interrupts the final round jump of the ski jumping men's super team competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Predazzo, Italy, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Domen Prevc, of Slovenia, launches off the ramp during his final round jump of the ski jumping men's super team competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Predazzo, Italy, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Gold medalists Stephan Embacher and Jan Hoerl, of Austria, celebrate on the podium, with silver medalists Pawel Wasek and Kacper Tomasiak, of Poland, and bronze medalists Kristoffer Eriksen Sundal and Johann Andre Forfang, of Norway, after the ski jumping men's super team competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Predazzo, Italy, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)