CHINA’S free skier Gu Ailing, Zhang Kexin and Li Fanghui qualified for the women’s halfpipe final at Beijing 2022 on Thursday, while Chinese Wu Meng failed to qualify for Friday’s final. Gu led all the way in both runs and topped 12 qualifiers with 95.50 points. She was also the gold medalist in big air and the silver medalist in slopestyle at Beijing 2022. As Gu’s grandmother came to watch her skiing, she said: “She’s never even watched me skiing but I’m honored to have her here to be able to show her my sports. I think once she holds my big gold medal, she’ll be pretty happy. We’ll see.” The 19-year-old Zhang ranked the fifth with 86.50 points. She made her World Championships halfpipe debut in 2019, and had won halfpipe World Cup event twice. Making mistake in the second run, Li ranked the seventh with 84.75 points. The 18-year-old won the Lausanne 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games silver medal just behind her teammate Gu. China’s 19-year-old Wu slipped in the first run. She made her ranking to the 16th with 67.75 points and failed to qualify for the finals. Rachael Karker of Canada, who topped the world rank in 2020-21 season in the overall halfpipe standings, ranked the second with 89.50 points. Estonia’s Kelly Sildaru, who had just won the bronze in slopestyle at the Games, did not start in the second run, ranked the third with 87.50 points. Gu is bidding to become the first action-sports athlete to capture three medals at the same Winter Games. “I’m not going all out,” Gu said after her second run. “I have a few more tricks I’d like to have the opportunity to do.” The halfpipe may just be her best event, too. Gu has won each World Cup halfpipe contest this season. In addition, Gu captured halfpipe gold at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics in Switzerland. The grind of competitions and training sessions — sometimes a little bit of each on the same day — has started to wear on the 18-year-old. “It’s definitely not easy. But I ran a half-marathon every week over the summer to prepare,” Gu explained.(SD-Xinhua) | 