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Gu Ailing withdraws from X Games due to knee injury
CGTN
Gu Ailing in action during the X Games Aspen women's slopestyle final in Aspen, Colorado, U.S., January 30, 2021. /CFP
Gu Ailing in action during the X Games Aspen women's slopestyle final in Aspen, Colorado, U.S., January 30, 2021. /CFP

Gu Ailing in action during the X Games Aspen women's slopestyle final in Aspen, Colorado, U.S., January 30, 2021. /CFP

Olympic freeski champion Gu Ailing announced Saturday she will pull out of the upcoming X Games Aspen 2023 after sustaining a knee injury in training, sparing anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) concerns. 

"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.

Earlier this month, the teenager came out on top with two titles in halfpipe at the FIS Freeski World Cup in Calgary, 11 months after winning two golds and a silver at the Beijing Winter Olympics in big air, halfpipe and slopestyle. She was the first freestyle skier to take the podium in three different events at a single edition of the Games.

Gu won golds in superpipe and slopestyle, and came out third in big air at last year's X Games.

(With input from Xinhua)

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