Mathilde Gremaud successfully defended her Olympic freeski slopestyle title on Monday, narrowly beating American-born Eileen Gu for the second straight Winter Games. Gremaud scored 86.96 on her best jump, while Gu finished with 86.58, taking silver once again. Canada’s Megan Oldham claimed the bronze medal.

Gu needed a near-perfect final run to overtake Gremaud, but she skittered off the first rail and fell, ending her chance at gold. Gremaud celebrated by tying a Swiss flag around her neck and taking a victory lap, embracing her teammates and supporters afterward. The 26-year-old Swiss skier now has four Olympic medals and two consecutive slopestyle victories over Gu, winning by margins of 0.33 points in 2022 and 0.38 in 2026.

Gu, who became a global star at the 2022 Beijing Games with three medals, including two golds, has struggled with the same tricky rail section throughout the competition. She fell during Saturday’s qualifying and again on her final attempt, proving decisive in the outcome.

Slopestyle events involve skiers performing acrobatic tricks on a course of rails and jumps, with the highest score from three runs counting toward the final result. Gremaud’s consistent performance across jumps and rails allowed her to edge out Gu, who continues to compete for China despite being born in the United States.

The outcome adds to Gremaud’s decorated career, which includes a silver in slopestyle from the 2018 Winter Games, a bronze in big air from 2022, and world championships in 2023 and 2025. Gu will now shift focus to defending her titles in other freeski events at these Games.