China's Gu Ailing revealed that she had just learned of her grandmother's passing moments after defending her Olympic halfpipe title at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Speaking at a press conference following her gold-medal performance, Gu apologized for arriving late and explained what had happened behind the scenes.

"The reason I was late is that I just found out that my grandma passed away," she said. "She was a really big part of my life growing up and someone I looked up to immensely."