Canadian freeskier Megan Oldham strikes gold — again — at X Games Aspen

One gold medal was not enough for Megan Oldham.

The Canadian first struck gold Friday in the women’s ski big air competition and Sunday put down a strong run to finish in the top spot in the women’s slopestyle skiing final on the last day of X Games Aspen at Buttermilk Ski Area.

She was able to dominate in her second slopestyle run by executing cleanly through the rails and going big on the jumps, which allowed her to top the rest of the seven-person field. Rounding out the podium were Switzerland’s Mathilde Gremaud in silver and Team Great Britain’s Kirsty Muir in bronze.

Sunday’s gold topped off a storybook experience for the 21-year-old Oldham, who now has won seven X Games medals.

“I think I’m still a little bit mind-blown because I came into X Games kind of just with one goal, which was to land the triple (which she did in Friday’s big air). And to walk away also with a gold in slopestyle is not what I expected. So I’m so happy,” she said. 

Having family cheering for her on the sidelines didn’t hurt. 

“This is something she’s been working toward for a long time,” said her brother, Bruce Oldham. “I mean, she’s consistent every day in and out, working hard all the time. This year, she really wanted to set things up and show what she was capable of and make a statement.”

In slopestyle, judges look for execution, amplitude, difficulty, and variety of maneuvers, landings, and the use of the 1,700-foot course down the frontside of Buttermilk that drops about 290 vertical feet. The seven athletes competed in a 35-minute jam format.

Second-place finisher Gremaud said she felt a little scared going into this competition but was happy with how it all turned out. 

“I didn’t feel too comfortable this week on the slopes, though, especially those shark fins,” she said. “It just feels good to learn a good run, but I was just missing something.”

This has been a successful weekend of freeskiing for women on Team Great Britain. On Saturday, Zoe Atkin won her first X Games gold medal in halfpipe skiing. Muir’s bronze was also a standout performance.

No American women competed in the slopestyle contest on Sunday. China’s Eileen Gu and Estonia’s Kelly Sildaru, who both would have been among the favorites, had to withdraw after sustaining injuries in training.