Eileen Gu鈥檚 halfpipe is ready for the Winter X Games.
The 19-year-old freestyle skier won her second World Cup in Calgary with Canada鈥檚 Rachael Karker taking a second silver behind Gu on Saturday night.
Alex Ferreira and Birk Irving of the United States finished one-two in the men鈥檚 event with Calgary鈥檚 Noah Bowman taking bronze.
The American-born Gu hit international stardom last year claiming Olympic halfpipe and big air gold medals, and slopestyle silver, for the host Chinese team in Beijing.
Neither Gu nor Karker scored as high as they did Thursday in Calgary in what was Gu鈥檚 first competition in any freestyle discipline since Beijing.
But Gu鈥檚 93.50 in the second of three rounds put the teenager comfortably in the lead.
She will compete in next week鈥檚 Winter X Games in Aspen, Colo., but didn鈥檛 answer the question of how many events she will enter.
鈥淚鈥檓 just happy to be here,鈥� Gu said Saturday. 鈥淚 mean, there鈥檚 a lot of pressure, but I鈥檓 just learning to deal with it.
鈥淚鈥檓 enjoying what I鈥檓 doing and I鈥檓 having fun and that鈥檚 what counts.鈥�
Gu was again in demand for pictures and autographs from a crowd of about 500 gathered at the bottom of WinSport鈥檚 superpipe.
The temperature held just above freezing during the event, with more breeze at the top of the pipe than Thursday.
Karker鈥檚 first-round 85.50 stood up for her 11th straight World Cup podium dating back to 2019-20.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 pretty crazy. Yeah, loving it. That鈥檚 wild,鈥� Karker said. 鈥淐ompeting is such an adrenalin high and such a crash, it鈥檚 really hard to do day after day, but I鈥檓 so happy that it worked out.鈥�
The 25-year-old from Erin, Ont., who was a bronze medallist in Beijing, continues to lead the women鈥檚 World Cup halfpipe standings after three of four scheduled events this season.
Kexin Zhang of China was third Saturday with a top score of 81.75 points.
Ferreira鈥檚 94.50 in the second round was the highest men鈥檚 score of the day ahead of Irving鈥檚 93.
Bowman fell on his first two passes attempting a right-side 1440, but nailed it on his third and final pass to score 90.50.
鈥淭raining went terribly,鈥� Bowman said. 鈥淚 fell on every run and fell on the first two runs of the competition as well. It was just a struggle all night to get this right-side 1440, the trick I was going for.
鈥淚 was able to put it down for the third run. That鈥檚 the first time I鈥檝e done that run with that trick. Putting that run down under pressure in my hometown felt amazing.鈥�
The 30-year-old collected the 13th World Cup medal of his career.
Calgary鈥檚 Brendan Mackay and Simon d鈥橝rtois of Whistler, B.C., placed second and third among men Thursday.
Karker, Bowman, Mackay, d鈥橝rtois, Calgary鈥檚 Amy Fraser and Dillan Glennie of Courtney, B.C., are Canada鈥檚 halfpipe entries in the Jan. 27-29 invitational X Games, which has been called the Super Bowl of freestyle ski and snowboard.
Calgary was useful preparation for Aspen where they鈥檒l compete at night under the lights again.
鈥淭his was great, actually, because we did the last two days at night and at the same time, so it鈥檚 kind of already put me on that late-night schedule,鈥� Karker said.
She made the agonizing decision to decline her X Games invitation in 2022 in order to avoid both injury and the COVID-19 virus ahead of Beijing鈥檚 Winter Games.
Karker is a three-time medallist in Aspen with a silver and two bronze.
鈥淚t is sort of our second to the Olympics,鈥� Karker said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the biggest event we have every year and to skip that, I was pretty gutted last year to say no.
鈥淚鈥檝e podiumed at every X Games I鈥檝e been to, so excited to try and make that four.鈥�
The half-dozen halfpipe skiers are among 15 Canadians invited to Aspen this year. Regina snowboarder Mark McMorris holds the record for most medals won in Winter X Games with 21.
2018 Olympic champion Cassie Sharpe of Comox, B.C., was second to Gu in Beijing. Sharpe did not compete in Calgary because she鈥檚 taking time off this season.
The Canadian Press
READ ALSO: Canadian rugby women finish 11th while men place 14th at New Zealand Sevens
