Gu Ailing withdraws from X Games through knee injury

Olympic freeski champion Gu Ailing has pulled out of the X Games Aspen 2023 after sustaining a knee injury in training.

"Had a heavy crash today in training and was told by doctors that they were worried about my ACL. Had the most agonizing couple of hours waiting to get an MRI until I finally got my results back about 30 mins ago. Turns out my knee is intact!! So so lucky to be walking away with a bad MCL sprain, ACL strain, and bone bruise," Gu wrote on Instagram.

"The bad news is I won't be competing at Xgames this weekend. The last few hours really put everything in perspective and made me realize how important it is to keep my body healthy. I'll be back soon," she added.

Gu claimed gold medals in the women's big air and halfpipe and a silver in slopestyle at the Beijing Winter Olympics, becoming the first freestyle skier to win three medals in three different events at a single Winter Olympics.

Earlier this month, she made a strong return to the FIS Freeski World Cup in nearly a year by winning two halfpipe titles in Calgary, Canada.

Gu won two golds in superpipe and slopestyle, and a bronze in big air at the X Games Aspen 2021. She was scheduled to compete in the superpipe and slopestyle this year.