On Monday, February 16, Canadian freestyle skier Megan Oldham got her country its first-ever Olympic medal in the Women’s Freeski Big Air event. Megan secured the gold medal in that category with a final score of 180.75 at the Milano Cortina 2026.
The win got her the second Olympic medal at the Winter Games 2026, having earlier won a bronze in the slopestyle event. Megan got Canada not only its first Olympic medal in the event, but it was also the first gold won in a freeski event across both men’s and women’s skier events since PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics.
The Canadian scored the highest total of the day, followed by People’s Republic of China Eileen Gu and Italy’s Flora Tabanelli finishing in second and third place, respectively. Meanwhile, Canada’s Naomi Urness of Mont-Tremblant, Que., finished in sixth place. That day, Canada made it to the medal tally with 11, including two golds, four silvers, and five bronzes.
Oldham claimed the second gold for Canada after Mikael Kingsbury lost his chance of a gold medal in the men’s dual moguls.
Megan said, “I’m so proud of myself for being able to come out here and land the tricks that I wanted tonight and to show my best skiing and just make Canada proud. I’m on cloud nine right now. I’m still processing everything. I don’t even think the emotion has fully hit me yet. Honestly, this has been an Olympics that has totally surpassed my dreams. I wanted to come home with one medal, and to come home with gold is something I never thought was possible … I’m so proud of myself.”
In the final, the Beijing 2022 Olympic champion, Gu, finished with a total score of 179.00, including 90.00 in the opener and 89.00 on her third score. The People’s Republic of China player who finished with a silver is now one of the most prolific female freeski racers with five Olympic medals, including two from Milano Cortina 2026.
Meanwhile, Tabanelli won bronze with a total score of 178.25. The Italian made a high score in her third attempt with a thrilling 94.25, which is also the highest single-run score in the finals. In addition to that, she got Italy’s first-ever Olympic medal in a freestyle skiing event.
Women’s freeski big air final winners:
Megan Oldham (Canada) — 180.75
Eileen Gu (China) — 179.00
Flora Tabanelli (Italy) — 178.25
