Swedish Skier Harlaut Throws Up W, Yells Signature ‘Wu-Tang Is For the Children’ After Killer Bronze Medal Jumps
Swedish skier Henrik Harlaut is known as an eccentric on the slopes. And in keeping with his signature move after landing a big trick, on Tuesday (Feb. 8) the hip-hop-loving high-flyer gave his customary shout-out to Staten Island’s finest when he stomped a killer combo in the finals of the Beijing Winter Olympic games’ debut of men’s freestyle skiing big air event.
After barking “yeah, yeah, yeah” and throwing his mittens up to make a Wu-Tang Clan “W” symbol, the Swede yelled “Wu-Tang Forever!” after landing a smooth Nose Butter triple cork. “Keep it going! A-woo! Wu-Tang is for the children!” Harlaut added as he awaited his score. With an 86 on his first run, a huge second jump — accompanied by another “children” chant — and an equally massive third, the 30-year-old air-bender landed a bronze medal in the men’s final.
But more importantly, he kept up his years-long tradition of giving props to the Clan by resurfacing the phrase uttered by late member Ol’ Dirty Bastard at the 1998 Grammy Awards when the voluble, volcanic ODB bum-rushed Shawn Colvin’s acceptance speech to avenge an earlier Wu-Tang loss at the ceremony and uttered the soon-to-be-iconic phrase: “Wu-Tang is for the children.”
Harlaut has been paying homage to the Clan since 2014 and they’ve definitely noticed, with the group’s leader, RZA, personally wishing the skier good luck in a video before his ski slopestyle run at the 2018 winter games in Pyeongchang. “Peace. Four years ago a young skiier rep’d Wu-Tang on the world’s biggest athletic stage. Today the @36chambers family wishes Henrik Harlaut well as he tries to capture an Olympic Gold,” RZA wrote alongside the video.
Watch Harlaut’s jumps here and a Wu-Tang shout-out pic below.
