Livigno, Italy — Irene Gu The last time I competed in a major aviation competition was four years ago. She learned a trick four days ago Monday night that helped her reach the medal stand. Then, in a frenzied training session before the Snow Olympic finals, she tried an even bigger trick, but hit her head on the landing and cracked her helmet.

With that in mind, finishing second, just 1.75 points behind Canada’s Megan Oldham, felt more like a victory than a defeat for the sport’s most famous star. And winning her fifth medal in the five events she competed in over two Winter Olympics felt like a time to celebrate rather than reflect on what happened.

“The words ‘five-time Olympic medalist’ have a nice ring to them,” Gu said.

Gu won two silver medals at the Olympics (one in slopestyle and one in the latest big air), while Oldham, 24, from Parry Sound, Ont., won a bronze and a gold medal.

At the urging of her brother Bruce, who is also a professional freeskier, Oldham gave up gymnastics and figure skating a few years ago and started jumping off mountains. Other sports have taught her a lot about “air awareness and rotation in general,” she said.

It also led her from a dangerous sport to a deadly sport. In this Olympic aerial contest, adrenaline junkies must ride a real elevator to the top of a scaffolding on a man-made hill 165 feet in the air.

Oldham called it a “brutal sport”. “You can fall down pretty hard when you’re learning these new tricks.”

She suffered a concussion in December and said she was under pressure because she didn’t know if she would make it in time for the Olympics.

“I’m so proud of myself just to come back from that situation,” Oldham said.

So did Flora Tabanelli, who won the bronze medal, Italy’s 23rd medal of the tournament. She is 4 months removed from a torn ACL. She decided to compete in a brace instead of opting for season-ending surgery.

“Three months ago, when I got injured, I thought I would never get here,” she said. “When I came here and said to myself, ‘I feel pretty good,’ it was already a victory.”

Gu naturally came to Italy with a higher profile and higher expectations than anyone else in the snow park.

After the first jump, a 1440-degree turn that put her in medal contention, she ran to the stands to celebrate. Friends from university and junior high school took advantage of the three-day weekend in America to come and watch the game.

She is the only three-event athlete in the sport. So in recent years, between skiing, Stanford University, modeling, and traveling the world between her hometown of the United States and her mother’s native China, something had to give. One of them was the great atmosphere.

She had not been on the entry sheet for the sport’s premier flying event since the day she left Beijing with the first of her two gold medals four years ago.

“If you had asked me four days ago, ‘What trick are you going to do in the final?’ I was like, ‘Am I going to make it?'” she said.

While warming up for the final, she crashed while attempting a 1620-degree spin, which won her the gold medal.

She was lucky that a near-blizzard of snow rolled through the snow park shortly after, delaying the start by 75 minutes and giving her a chance to rest in a dark room. The contest itself was held under moderate snow (which could reduce running speeds) and no wind.

“I really needed that time,” she said. “To be honest, I don’t think the outcome would have been the same.”

Oldham’s victory came on his other brother Cody’s 18th birthday. “He will celebrate with us,” she said.

Gu had no time to rest.

She hasn’t skied a halfpipe since December. She was frustrated that she missed one of the three halfpipe practice sessions the remaining skiers are undergoing in preparation for the qualifying round, which begins Thursday. She has two days to make up for lost time. Halfpipe is probably her best event. She won 15 of her record-setting 20 World Cup wins in this tournament.

“I think it was Kobe.” [Bryant] “Who said great athletes have the shortest memories, so I try to follow that. I’m in goldfish mode and as soon as I finish this, I’ll move on to the next step,” Gu said.

She spoke out about the idea that she had nothing left to prove, or anything to be disappointed in, even after winning the silver medal again, making her the most Olympic medalist of any female freestyle skier in history.

“Winning an Olympic medal is a life-changing experience, and winning it five times is extremely difficult,” she said. “The idea that ‘I lost two medals’ is ridiculous. I’m showing off my best skiing and doing things I’ve never done before, so that’s enough for me.”