Mathilde Gremaud’s Victory Lap with Swiss Flag As A Superhero Cape Goes Instantly Viral

Mathilde Gremaud became the first woman to win back-to-back gold medals in freestyle skiing with her win on Monday.

Mathilde Gremaud’s Victory Lap with Swiss Flag As A Superhero Cape Goes Instantly Viral

Mathilde Gremaud (Image via Getty Images)

In Short
  • Mathilde Gremaud won gold in women's freestyle slopestyle skiing, becoming the most decorated freestyle skier of all time.
  • China's Eileen Gu crashed during her final run, securing Gremaud's victory.
  • Canada's Megan Oldham earned bronze, marking her first Olympic medal in women's slopestyle skiing.

In the picturesque valley of Livigno, Mathilde Gremaud defended her title in the women’s freestyle slopestyle skiing en route to her fourth career medal. Once again, it was between her and China’s Eileen Gu, whom she pipped to a silver medal in Beijing four years ago.

The final list was cut short to 11 after China’s Han Lishan withdrew from the competition. With three runs and a best score to decide the podium, Gu comfortably took the lead with 86.58, against Gremaud’s 83.60. In the second run, Grimaud bettered her score from the first run to go 0.40 points ahead of Gu to reclaim the lead.

As the leader, Gremaud was scheduled to be the last skier on the slopes. On her third and last run to overtake the Swiss star, Gu had an uncharacteristic loss of balance on the first obstacle and fumbled into a crash, mathematically confirming Gremaud as the champion. Now, Gremaud took a victory lap with a Swiss flag tied around her neck like a cape and swirled through the course, leaping into the air, flying, and gliding like a superhero.

The videos and pictures have instantly gone viral.

Canada’s Megan Oldham, who posted 69.76 in her first run to go third, held onto the bronze after bettering to a 76.46 in her third run. It was Oldham’s first Olympic medal as well as Canada’s first medal in women’s slopestyle skiing since Dara Howell and Kim Lamarre won gold and bronze, respectively, in 2014 at Sochi.

With the gold on Monday, Gremaud became the most decorated freestyle skier of all-time with 2 golds, one silver, and a bronze. In 2022, she won a bronze in women’s freestyle big air in addition to her gold in slopestyle. In Pyeongchang, she won her first medal in slopestyle, a silver behind her teammate Sarah Höfflin. She surpassed men’s halfpipe skier, DavId Wise and Gu, both of whom have two golds and a silver. She also became the first woman to win back-to-back golds in any event of freestyle skiing.

Gu and Gremaud face each other once again in the big air qualification on Valentine’s Day. The Chinese athlete will later feature in the women’s halfpipe.

Mathilde Gremaud, Gregor Deschwanden, Alpine Skiers round up a great day for the Swiss

The Swiss Confederation had one of the best days in the Winter Olympics with four medals added to its tally on Day 3 of the Milan Cortina Games. Mathilde Gremaud started the medal fest with a win in women’s freeski slopestyle.

Tanguy Nef (left) with Franjo von Allmen (right), celebrating their men’s team combined win
Tanguy Nef (left) with Franjo von Allmen (right), celebrating their alpine skiing – men’s team combined win (Image via Getty Images)

In the alpine skiing – men’s team combined, Franjo von Allmen and Tanguy Nef combined for a time of 2:44.04 in the downhill and slalom, respectively, and won Switzerland’s second gold in alpine skiing. Earlier, 24-year-old Allmen had won the men’s downhill on Day One of the Milan Cortina Games. In the event, introduced in 2026, Switzerland also landed a silver.

The Marco Odermatt–Loïc Meillard pair finished second, along with the Austrian pair of Vincent Kriechmayr and Manuel Feller, separated from the champions by 0.99 seconds. The Swiss had another tie in the night window, which added another bronze to sign off the day in style.

34-year-old Gregor Deschwanden came in third in men’s normal hill ski jumping with 266 points. The Kerns Ow native recorded 132.8 points in the first round with a 106.0m jump. He upped his ante in the second round with 133.2 in the final round, going one metre more than his first round jump. It was the country’s first medal in ski jumping since Simon Ammann won golds in both normal hill and large hill in 2010 at Vancouver.

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