Shrugging off Her Mother's Advice, Gu Vaults to the Gold

choi

John Branch, Shrugging off Her Mother's Advice, Gu Vaults to the Gold. New York Times, Feb 9, 2022, at page B9 (section B was fronted with Business subsection and backed by Sports subsection).
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/ ... gu-gold-skiing.html

five consecutive paragraphs:

"Gu stood on top of the huge, modern big air jump, set in an industrial park amid concrete cooling towers. She was in third place with one jump to go.

"Her mother called. Yan Gu, who grew up in Beijing, was at the bottom of the jump, trying to give her daughter advice.

"Do the 1440 again, she told her, referring to a four-rotation trick that Gu had landed nearly perfectly already. Maybe it lifts you to a silver medal. Gu had other ideas.

" 'Mom, executive call here,' she recalled saying. 'Vetoed. I am going to make the 16, and you are going to deal with it.'

"Gu landed the trick, officially a left double 1620 with a safety grab, the first time she had even tried it, she said. It earned enough points to vault her into first [for the moment]. When France's Tess Ledeux could not match the score [later], Gu had gold and Ledeux got silver.


Note:
(a)
(i) The English-language report is available to non-scribers,
(ii) As of today, the report is not translated into Chinese and does not appear in cn.nytimes.com
(iii) the online title: Eileen Gu claims her first gold with a trick she had never tried.

(b)
(i) About Those Cooling Towers Next to the Big Air Events * * *  The large, drab concrete cooling towers are from an old steelworks. New York Times, Feb 7, 2022 (blog)
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/ ... big-air-skiing.html
("the towering ski jump for big air events is juxtaposed by four large, drab concrete cooling towers from an old steelworks that to many viewers looks like something from a nuclear plant.  The Big Air Shougang Park [首钢滑雪大跳台], the only venue for a snow event in downtown Beijing * * * The athletes will compete in big air freestyle skiing and big air snowboarding.  The venue was constructed at the site of a 100-year-old former steelworks of Shougang Group * * *  It was shut down before the 2008 Summer Olympics")

首钢 was formed in 1919 as 石景山钢铁厂.
(ii) big air
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_air
("where the competitor rides a vehicle, such as a motocross motorcycle, a skateboard, a snowboard, or a pair of skis [without ski poles], down a hill or ramp and performs aerial tricks after launching off very large jumps. In most versions, there is one large jump and therefore only one opportunity to perform a trick. * * * Competitors perform complex tricks in the air, aiming to attain sizable height and distance as well, all while making every effort to secure a clean landing. * * * The term was coined by French-Canadians * * * In 2018, Big Air became the oldest snowboarding event introduced in the Olympic Games.  In the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, the ski Big Air event was held for the first time in Olympic history")

(c) "executive call here" means: I make the decision.
(i) executive (adj): "(attributive) relating to or having the power to put plans or actions into effect
<executive chairman [who has the real power and makes day-to-day decisions with CEO reporting to him]>
<Managers make key executive decisions about the running of companies and they are answerable to a board of directors.>
<He is hinting that he will step back from executive duties and allow other managers to run the show.>
https://www.lexico.com/definition/executive
(ii) call (n): "7: (in sport) a decision or ruling made by an umpire or other official, traditionally conveyed by a shout, that the ball has gone out of play or that a rule has been breached  <umpire's calls>
7.1: a decision, judgement, or prediction  <personally, I'm all in favour, but it's your call>"
https://www.lexico.com/definition/call

(d) The rest is about what Gu did: "officially a left double 1620 with a safety grab."
(i) First of all, learn additional terms to be mentioned surrounding Gu's victory.

First-Ever Freeski Big Air Olympic Gold Goes to Eileen Gu. FIS, Feb 8, 2022
https://www.fis-ski.com/en/frees ... d-goes-to-eileen-gu

Quote:

(A) "The Olympic debut of freeski big air was a momentous one on Tuesday at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, as China's own Eileen Gu stomped a final-run double cork 1620 safety grab to snatch the first of what could possibly be three gold medals for the 18 year old here in Beijing.

(B) "Clean landings were the norm on the day, with 10 of the 12 finalists stomping at least one double invert [heed 'invert,' which is same as cork(screw)], and heading into the third and final run of competition there was fully seven athletes very much in contention for the podium.

" * * * before the start of run three, the gold looked to be all but locked up for France’s Tess Ledeux, who came out firing with the left double cork 1620 safety that she had first landed in competition two weeks ago at X Games, and then followed that up with a switch left 1440 Japan for a massive two-jump score of 187.50 out of a possible 200.

"Sitting in third place behind Ledeux and Mathilde Gremaud (SUI) before her final run, Gu knew that she needed something special to grab the gold medal in front of the expectant Chinese crowd, and something special was just what she gave them, throwing her own version of the left dub [double] 1620 safety.

"It was the first time she had ever even attempted the trick. * * * " (emphasis original).

"The judges awarded Gu’s 1620 an identical score to Ledeux's [1620] - 94.50 - and, paired with the 93.75 earned for her first run right double cork 1440 safety, Gu would jump into the lead with a combined score of 188.25 - just .75 clear of Ledeux.

"Ledeux with her final hit of the competition tried to up the difficulty by throwing a double Japan grab into her left 1440, but when she had a small mistake on the landing it was clear the gold would go to Gu.

(C) "Sensing that there was only one way for her to improve her position after watching Gu's third run, Gremaud too appeared to be looking for a 1620 on her final hit. Though she crashed heavily on that final attempt, her left double cork 1260 safety and switch left double cork 1440 safety from runs one and two were enough to give her bronze with a score of 182.50 - quite the birthday present for the athlete who turned 22 years old on Tuesday.

(ii) Regarding 1440, 16, 1620.
(A) FIS Trick List. FIS undated ("Freestyle" category)
https://www.fis-ski.com/DB/frees ... ski/trick-list.html
("Trick ID         Trick Name        Trick Description
14                1440                1440º rotation, 4.0 full rotations (1 rotation = 360º)
16                1620                1620º rotation, 4.5 full rotations
18                1800                1800º rotation, 5.0 full rotations
* * *
J                Japan                The front hand grabs the toe edge in between the feet and the front knee is pulled to the board
* * *
Ng                 Nosegrab        The front hand grabs the nose of the snowboard")
(B) FIS is acronym of French "Fédération internationale de ski" (English: International Ski Federation),
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Ski_Federation
(iii)
(A) Leah Fielding, X-Game Dictionary: Freeskiing Tricks Explained. Ski.com, Dec 1, 2019 ("To the Mountains Blog")
https://www.ski.com/blog/x-games ... g-tricks-explained/
("FREESKIING TERMS
TRICK AXES
• Center: Is located at the level of the navel, where the three axes intersect.
• Vertical axis: Runs from the head to the feet, through the center balance point.
• Horizontal axis: Runs from front to back, through the center balance point.
• Lateral Axis: Runs from front to back through the center balance point.
TRICK CATEGORIES
* * *
• Flips: When a skier rotates along the vertical axis.
• Rotations: When a skier rotates along the horizontal axis.
• Hybrids: A trick combining vertical and horizontal axis.
GRAB TRICKS
        • Safety: The skier hand grabs the outside of ski/binding. The left hand grabs the left ski/binding and right hand grabs the right ski/binding
* * *
• Japan: The skier stretches out one of their legs and tucks the other leg behind the front leg. They grab the tucked leg under base of ski. Left hand grabs right ski and right hand grabs left ski.
        • Tail grab: The skier’s hand grabs the tail of ski/skis.
THE LINGO OF SPINS
* * *
        • 1260º or '12': The skier makes three full 360º rotations with an extra 180º in the switch landing.
• 1440º or '14': The skier makes four full 360º rotations.
• 1880º or '18': The skier makes five full 360º rotations.
* * *
ROTATIONAL TRICKS
* * *
• Corkscrew or 'Cork': The skier does one distinct off-axis or inverted horizontal rotation. At no point should the skier’s feet be above their head.
• Double Cork or 'Dub Cork': The skier does two distinct off-axis rotations.
• Triple Cork: The skier does three distinct off-axis rotations.
* * * ")

(B) X Games
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_Games
(inaugural X Games in summer 1995; "The X Games has never carried out drug tests on competitors")

Seemingly it is noted for Winter X Games, not summer.
(iii) A picture is worth a thousand words. Here it is. (Because snowboarding and skiing share the same vocabulary, the following is from snowboarding.)

Max Ufberg, The Physics of a Flawless Triple Cork 1620 Snowboard Flip. At the X games' Snowboard Big Air jump event, an entrant has about 2.4 seconds of air time in which to impress the judges. That's not a lot, but it's enough for Maxence Parrot. Last year's gold medalist bested the field with a flawless triple cork 1620: four and a half rotations, all while flipping off-axis three times. Wired.com, Jan 5, 2015
https://www.wired.com/2015/01/x-games-snowboarding-big-air/
("Maxence Parrot [male, Canadian]. Last year's [2014's] gold medalist")

Cork or corkscrew is in an inverted or upside down position. The article did not say it, but Parrot leaned left, not right, to do corks. The picture painted Parrot YELLOW when, in three times or 3 corks, he rotated UP (otherwise, he was painted gray). ALSO in this picture, whenever Parrot had his back facing you (thus completing a 360º turn), there was a number atop him (360º, 720º, 1080º, 1440º) –except the moment ha landed BACKWARD (1620º atop him).

(iv) grabs
(A) Three Basic Freestyle Grabs for Skiing. US Sports Camps, undated (under the heading "Coach's Corner')
https://www.ussportscamps.com/ti ... le-grabs-for-skiing

Quote (boldface original):

"A safety grab is the easiest to learn and just requires you to grab the outside edge of your ski near the boot

"A mute grab is when a freeskier takes their opposite hand and grabs the other ski.

"Finally, the last grab we will learn today is called tail. This grab is the most difficult out of the three we have discussed today, and requires an advanced freeskiing ability to learn. To grab tail, you must keep your feet close together, and reach back to grab the tip of the tail of the ski. This grab has the least amount of ski area to grab, so you must be precise when reaching back. Bending your knees will help for this grab, as it brings the skis up parallel to your body, and keeps your arms up high while in the air

(B) In (d)(iii)(A) above, Japan grab is described as "The skier stretches out one of their legs and tucks the other leg behind the front leg. They grab the tucked leg under base of ski. Left hand grabs right ski and right hand grabs left ski."

Alex McCann, How To Japan & Tail Grab. Ski Addition, undated.
https://skiaddiction.com/blogs/tutorials/basic-grabs-japan-tail
(C) Ski tricks are borrowed, or stolen, from snowboarding ones.

Origins: The Photo That Named the Japan Air | Tony Hawk’s skate history lesson. Boardrap.com, undated
https://www.boardrap.com/origins ... ate-history-lesson/
("Tony Hawk explains: 'There was a TWS [Transworld SKATEboarding] article' ")


(e) NBC paid for the right to broadcast 2-22 Winter Olympics.

Liam Nee, China's Eileen Gu Stomps 1620 to Win First Olympic Gold in Freeski Big Air. NBC, Feb 7, 2022 (updated Feb 8).
https://www.nbcolympics.com/news ... old-freeski-big-air

There are four (4) video clips in this poage, with the top one complet. Watch the top one and there is no need to view the other three. In the top clip, slow motion appears from 2:38 to 2:50 (two minutes and fifty seconds), where her first invert or cork is not totally upside down but the second was.