Dec 13 (Reuters) - China's "Snow Princess" Eileen Gu won the first halfpipe World Cup of the 2025-26 season at the Secret Garden venue on Saturday, strengthening her prospects of defending her title at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.
Freestyle skier Gu, 22, bagged her 19th World Cup win in the same pipe in China's Hebei province where she clinched the 2022 Beijing Olympic gold.
Gu battled challenging weather conditions on Saturday and impressed in her final run, securing a top score of 91.75.
"That was not easy. I've been struggling with speed all of training," Gu said.
"I actually almost didn't compete because I was worried I wouldn't be able to do my tricks at the amplitude I was at. That was the first full run that I've landed all day. It was such a mental battle."
Gu, who faced multiple injuries during the 2024-25 season, credited a rigorous training regimen for her success.
"I'm less of an affirmations person and more of an evidence person. What I mean by that is find the right thing to do and do so much volume that it's unreasonable to fail," she said.
"I train like I've never won, and I compete like I've never lost."
Britain's Zoe Atkin came second while Australia's Indra Brown finished third.
Gu will be in action at the Winter Games, which will run from February 6 to 22.
(Reporting by Suramya Kaushik in Bengaluru)
