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Eileen Gu

Eileen Feng Gu (born September 3, 2003), also known by her Chinese name Gu Ailing (Chinese: 谷爱凌), is a freestyle skier. Born in the United States, she has competed for China in halfpipe, slopestyle, and big air events since 2019.

At age 18, Gu became the youngest Olympic champion in freestyle skiing after winning gold medals in big air and halfpipe, and a silver medal in slopestyle, at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. She is the first freestyle skier to win three medals at a single Winter Olympics. Her decision to compete for China was controversial, drawing international attention.

Time named her as one of the 100 most influential people in the world under the 'Pioneers' category on its annual list in 2022. Forbes listed her as the second-highest earning female athlete in the world in 2023.

Early life and education

Eileen Gu was born on September 3, 2003, in San Francisco, California, United States. Her mother, Yan Gu (Chinese: 谷燕; pinyin: Gǔ Yàn), is a first-generation Chinese immigrant. Her father is American. Her maternal grandfather was the chief electrical engineer of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of China.

Yan emigrated to the United States after receiving a master's degree in chemical engineering at Peking University, where she was a member of the short-track speed skating team. She moved to the Bay Area to attend Stanford University Graduate School of Business and worked in finance after earning her MBA.

Yan raised her daughter as a single mother in San Francisco's Sea Cliff neighborhood. At 3, Gu began skiing in Lake Tahoe, where Yan once worked as part-time ski instructor. She joined the Northstar California Resort free-ski team at eight, and won her first national championship at nine.

Gu attended primary and middle school at the Katherine Delmar Burke School and went to high school at San Francisco University High. Every summer, she attended cram school in Beijing for mathematics. She scored 1580 out of 1600 on her SAT.

Gu earned early admittance to Stanford University, her mother's alma mater, in December 2020.She entered the freshman class in 2022. the same year she was presented as a debutante at Le Bal des débutantes in Paris.

Sports career

In 2021, Gu became the first woman to land a forward double cork 1440 in competition history.

Coaches

Gu's coaches have included Jamie Melton, head coach of the Chinese National Slopestyle and Big Air Training Team for the 2022 Winter Olympics, and Brad Prosser, who met Gu when she was ten. In 2018, he became the technical coach guide to the Chinese national team for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Her personal coach for the 2022 Olympics was Misra Noto Torniainen, the former coach of the Swiss freeski team. Torniainen had coached Olympic medalists Sarah Höfflin and Mathilde Gremaud for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

X Games

At the 2021 Winter X Games, Gu won a bronze medal in Big Air and two gold medals in SuperPipe and Slopestyle, becoming the first rookie to win a gold medal in Women's Ski SuperPipe, the first rookie to medal in three events, and the first athlete representing China to win a gold medal at the X Games.

At the 2024 Winter X Games, Gu won gold in SuperPipe despite being injured on her right hip during the X Games Slopestyle training. She wrote "Pain is Temporary" on her hand, and showed it to the cameras during the finals. Due to the pain, she did not participate in Slopestyle.

World Championships

Gu competed at the FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding World Championships 2021, winning two gold medals in Freeski Halfpipe and Freeski Slopestyle and a bronze medal in Freeski Big Air. Gu became the first freeskier to win two golds at the FIS Freeski World Championship. She competed without poles for the first time due to a broken hand, having fractured a finger and tearing the UCL in her thumb.

2022 Winter Olympics

At the 2022 Winter Olympics, Gu became the youngest gold medalist in freestyle skiing, winning the big air event, the first to be held at the Olympics. Gu landed a double cork 1620, her first attempt in competition. She was the second woman to land the trick and the first woman to land a left-turn 1620; Tess Ledeux first successfully completed a double cork 1620 on 21 January 2022, at the X Games in Aspen, Colorado, Gu landed it again in her first run of the big air final at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Gu won the silver medal in the slopestyle event. She won a second gold medal in the women's freeski halfpipe competition, becoming the first freestyle skier to win three medals at a Winter Olympics. She was awarded the Best Breakthrough Athlete and Best Female Action Sports Athlete ESPY Awards at the 2022 ESPY Awards.

World Cup results

Gu ended the 2021-2022 World Cup season with a perfect record in women's halfpipe, taking her first career crystal globe and becoming the first freestyle skier to win four consecutive World Cup competitions. She claimed her second crystal globe in the same season, placing first in Park & Pipe overall.

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation.

8 wins: 5 Halfpipe, 2 Slopestyle, 1 Big Air
12 podiums: 6 Halfpipe, 5 Slopestyle, 1 Big Air

Results current through 1 February 2022.

Controversy

Gu competed for the United States at the 2018–19 FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup. She began competing for China in June 2019 after requesting a change of nation with the International Ski Federation. Her goal was to compete for China in the 2022 Winter Olympics. She announced the change on Weibo and Instagram, stating that through skiing she hopes "to help inspire millions of young people" in China and "to unite people, promote common understanding, create communication, and forge friendships between nations."

There has been considerable controversy related to Gu's citizenship and nationality. The Chinese Consulate General in New York told the BBC that Gu would have to have been naturalized or gained permanent residency status in China to compete for its team; in the same article, it was reported that the Chinese Ministry of Justice in 2020 broadened rules for foreigners, allowing people that achieved international recognition in sport, science, culture and other fields to obtain permanent residency. In January 2024, Gu said that she planned to represent China at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Rather than focus on citizenship, Gu chooses to focus on her mixed Chinese and American ancestry. In an interview in May 2022, Gu referred to herself as an Asian American. In other interviews she has said, "Nobody can deny I'm American, nobody can deny I'm Chinese" and "Since I was little, I've always said when I'm in the U.S., I'm American, but when I'm in China, I'm Chinese."

Sponsorships, endorsements, and modeling career

As a "young American freestyle champion" at Nanshan Ski Resort, Gu had sponsorships in China at nine years old through connections with the resort's owner and China's ski industry. These included several Chinese sponsors, The North Face, and CCTV9.

Prior to the start of the 2022 Winter Olympics, Gu was the face of multiple brands in China. Gu has endorsed brands in China across sports, fashion, and banking. Some of her partnerships in China include Mengniu Dairy, Luckin Coffee, JD.com, China Mobile, People's Insurance Company of China, Bank of China, and Anta Sports. It was reported that she earned her over US$30 million in endorsements and advertising contracts in 2021 alone. According to media reports, her average fee per endorsement increased from $1 million in 2021 to $2 to $2.5 million in 2022.

In the U.S., Gu is represented by IMG Models. She has appeared on the covers of magazines such as the Chinese editions of Harper's Bazaar, Elle, Cosmopolitan, GQ, Marie Claire, V, L'Officiel, and Vogue. Gu has been featured in campaigns for Western luxury brands including Louis Vuitton and Tiffany & Co. and is a brand ambassador for IWC Schaffhausen.She is a Red Bull-sponsored athlete and a founding member of Victoria's Secret's VS Collective.

Personal life

Gu was raised by her mother and maternal grandmother. In 2002, a year before Gu was born, Yan Gu's sister Ling died in a car crash. Gu's mother decided to name her 爱凌 (Ailing), literally translating to "Love Ling", in her sister's honor. In China, she uses the nickname "青蛙公主" ("Frog Princess") on her Chinese social media accounts. The nickname comes from a green helmet she once wore during competition.

Gu speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese and English. She plays the piano as a hobby. In May 2022, Gu mentioned that she had converted to Buddhism.

Social and political views

During the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Gu has spoken out against anti-Asian racism after the 2021 Atlanta spa shootings and the killing of Vicha Ratanapakdee. She has described her own experience with anti-Asian racism, which included a man screaming obscenities about "Asians infecting America" with COVID-19 while she was shopping with her grandmother. She supports the Black Lives Matter movement and the right to legal access to abortion. Gu has largely declined to comment on social and political topics involving China.