LIVIGNO — Eileen Gu held her nerve to reach the final of the women’s freeski halfpipe on Thursday in an event marred by former Olympic champion Cassie Sharpe’s horrific crash.

China’s defending champion Gu, who has already won two silver medals in Italy, stayed on track for her first gold of the Milan-Cortina Games despite a fall on her first run.

She was under huge pressure for the second of her two runs under the lights at Livigno Snow Park but scored 86.50 to reach Saturday’s final, finishing fifth out of the 12 qualifiers.

“My working hypothesis is that I need to reach a certain threshold of pressure to thrive, and it’s almost like the first run of qualies is not enough,” said Gu. “I honestly don’t know what it is.

“I really don’t want to keep doing this. This is not a good practice to have. I hope I get to the bottom of it.

“Thank God this is my last event. I’m exhausted, I just want to go home to bed.”

Great Britain’s Zoe Atkin topped the scores with 91.50, ahead of China’s Li Fanghui, with 90.00. Canada’s Sharpe (88.25) was third, despite her crash on her second run.

Gu, 22, arrived at the Games in Italy targeting a clean sweep of golds in her three events after winning two golds and a silver at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

But she came up just short in the slopestyle and big air competitions in Livigno.