18-year-old Eileen Gu is an American-born freestyle skier. Remarkably talented for her age, Eileen Gu has already proven to be one of the most accomplished skiers in the world. Gu is a two-time gold medalist and one-time silver medalist in the Olympics. While Gu was born in the United States, she chose to represent her mother’s home country of China in the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
Eileen Gu certainly has a long list of athletic achievements. In 2021, Gu became the first woman to land a forward double cork 1440, a complicated maneuver in which the skier must spin four full rotations while simultaneously inverting twice. At the 2021 Winter X Games, Gu won two gold medals in Superpipe and Slopestyle, the first time a rookie had ever won gold in those events. In 2021, Gu competed at the FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding World Championships at which she placed first in the halfpipe and slopestyle.
Fast forward to the Beijing Winter Olympics, Eileen Gu landed on the podium for everything she competed in. She secured her first gold medal in the Big Air event, before winning a silver medal in the women’s Freeski slopestyle. Finally, at the Freeski halfpipe, Gu came in the lead in the first three rounds as she flew above the piper higher than any other contestant. Because of her superior performance, Gu received the gold after just two of the rounds and used the last round as a victory lap. Because of her performance at the recent 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Eileen Gu is one of only five Chinese athletes who have won at least two gold medals in their careers.
Eileen Gu began receiving global attraction since she decided to switch from Team USA to compete for China. Many criticize her for not competing in the United States despite her training and upbringing in the country. Born in San Francisco, California to a Chinese immigrant mother, Eileen began her skiing career at a young age. Eileen claims she wanted to represent China to show other young Chinese girls what they can achieve in winter sports. Since her switch to the Chinese team, Gu has become the face of the games in China, with an overwhelming amount of Chinese Olympic media coverage being focused on Gu.
Eileen Gu is just one of many young Olympic athletes under scrutiny for their personal decisions. 24-year-old Naomi Osaka, the number one ranked female tennis player, dropped out of the French Open to nurse her mental health. Osaka received scrutiny for “chickening out” of the competition, despite her long record of success in tennis. Regardless of whether or not you think Eileen Gu is in the wrong for switching teams, she is undoubtedly one of the best professional skiers of all time.
With eight golds, China is having the best Winter Olympics in Olympic history. The success is in part to Eileen Gu being trained outside of the standard Chinese state-run sports program. Fans of Eileen Gu look forward to seeing her perform in Italy in 2026, where the next Winter Olympics will be held.
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