Eileen Gu - The 'snow Princess' Who Divides Opinion
ByKatie Falkingham
BBC Sport Senior Journalist in Livigno
Updated 22 February 2026
Wherever Eileen Gu goes, her fans will follow. Headlines will too.
With six medals, including three golds - the third of which she won in Sunday's halfpipe - she is the most decorated freestyle skier in the history of the Games.
But she is likewise somebody who transcends her sport, a 22-year-old worldwide superstar with a bank balance to make your eyes water.
China fell for its 'snow princess' at the Beijing 2022 Olympics where, as the poster woman of the Games, she properly provided.
She became youngest Olympic champ with her huge air and halfpipe golds at the age of 18, and the first to win 3 medals at the exact same Games when she added slopestyle silver.
Later that year, she was called one of Time publication's 100 most prominent individuals worldwide.
"I similar to being the best. I've always wanted to do that," stated Gu at the Milan-Cortina Olympics, where she earlier won silver medals in the big air and slopestyle.
"I wanted to be the very best at math when I remained in kindergarten, and then I wished to enter into the finest high school, and I wished to have the greatest SAT score, and after that I wanted to get to the very best college, and I desired to be the very best skier I could be.
"Then I wanted to do every occasion, and after that I wished to win them all. When you get a taste of it, it's type of addicting."
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On and off skis, Gu is a high achiever in every part of her world.
California-born and raised by an American daddy and Chinese mother, she went to independent school in San Francisco and is presently taking a sabbatical from her studies at Stanford University, where she majors in worldwide relations and previously studied quantum physics.
She is likewise fluent in Mandarin, and as a kid would invest summertimes in Beijing.
"Sometimes it seems like I'm bring the weight of two countries on my shoulders," Gu stated previously in the 2026 Games.
In 2019, at the age of simply 15, she changed her sporting allegiance from the US to China, wanting to "influence millions of young people in Beijing - my mom's birthplace" before the 2022 Olympics.
Whatever her thinking, it was a choice that proved profitable.
In December, Forbes ranked Gu as the fourth-highest paid female professional athlete for 2025, behind just tennis gamers Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek.
But unlike those 3, only a small quantity of her $23.1 m (₤ 17.1 m) earnings last year originated from cash prize from her sport - around $100,000 (₤ 74,000).
Instead, it comes through endorsements with brands such as Red Bull, Porsche and Tiffany & Co, while she has strolled the runway for Louis Vuitton and Victoria's Secret and is signed by designing company IMG.
It likewise emerged in 2025, as reported in the Wall Street Journal, external, that Gu and another athlete were set to be paid a combined $6.6 m (₤ 4.9 m) by the Beijing Municipal Sports Bureau.
In total, the two professional athletes were stated to be paid nearly $14m (₤ 10.4 m) over the past three years by the Bureau.
But her choice to compete for China was likewise one that drew much criticism, not even if of China and the US' competition as the world's 2 greatest economies, however since of China's authoritarian Communist Party rulers and its poor record on human rights - which it rejects.
While the initial furore waned, it has raised its head again at these Games.
At the start of the Olympics, American freestyle skier Hunter Hess spoke up about the actions of the United States' Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) organisation and continuous stress in the US.
In January, extensive care nurse Alex Pretti, 37, and fellow Minnesota local Renee Good, 37, were both killed by ICE representatives in the city, sparking prevalent protests.
Asked what it indicates to represent the USA, Hess said: "It's a little tough.
"Even if I'm using the flag does not indicate I represent whatever that's going on in the US."
President Donald Trump reacted to Hess' remark by calling him a "genuine loser", and Gu was among numerous professional athletes who openly defended Hess and others speaking out.
"As someone who's been caught in the crossfire before, I pity the professional athletes," she stated.
But that enraged her critics, given Gu picked to speak out versus Trump however has actually never criticised China.
Former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom called her a "traitor", including she "was born in America, raised in America, lives in America and chose to contend against her own country for the worst human rights abuser on the planet - China".
"You do not get to enjoy the flexibilities of US citizenship while functioning as an international PR property for the Chinese Communist Party," he wrote on X.
When inquired about China's human rights record by Time publication, external, in an interview published in January, she answered: "I'm not an expert on this.
"I haven't done the research study. I don't believe it's my company."
A 'ludicrous viewpoint' and 'frustrating choices'
Gu has 2.6 m followers on Instagram, has actually generated 11.7 m likes on TikTok, and at the Livigno Snow Park high up in the Italian Alps, no professional athlete has more fans in participation.
Clad at a loss colours of China, they line the front of the fan locations, flags embellished with pictures of Gu's face pegged to the fences, and celebrate her every run like it has actually clinched Olympic gold.
After every run, the ever-driven and disciplined Gu looks for her mom, Yan, to evaluate video footage on her phone. Yan, apparently a successful investor who brought her child up single-handledly, is accredited at the Games and is the first individual Gu commemorates her successes with.
During Monday's big air final, Yan was seen viewing along with previous International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach.
After competitors, Gu is the one every media outlet desires to speak with, and she with dignity and nicely requires as she gradually mixes through the combined zone.
But it was from an interview earlier this week that her remarks to a reporter went viral, when she was asked if she felt her 2 silver medals were in fact 2 golds lost.
"I'm the most decorated female freeskier in history. I believe that's a response in and of itself," she replied.
"How do I state this? Winning a medal at the Olympics is a life-changing experience for each professional athlete. Doing it five times is significantly harder due to the fact that every medal is similarly difficult for me however everyone else's expectations rise, best?
"So the 2 medals lost scenario, to be rather frank with you, I believe is sort of an outrageous viewpoint to take.
"I'm showcasing my finest skiing, I'm doing things that rather literally have never ever been done before so I think that is more than good enough. But thank you."
In the lead-up to the Games, Gu did interviews with the likes of Vogue and Time publication, however it was reports in the Swiss media, external that had the prospective to more fuel a competitive competition at the top of the sport.
It was reported that the coach of Swiss skier Mathilde Gremaud left her team to join Gu's on the eve of the Games, just as he had 4 years earlier before Beijing 2022.
At those Games, Gremaud pipped Gu to slopestyle gold, while Gu won the big air title with Gremaud taking bronze.
This time around, Gremaud again won slopestyle gold, with Gu taking silver, while the Swiss star withdrew from the huge air after a crash, with Gu going on to complete second again.
Before that huge air last and as an outcome of reaching it, Gu had taken to Instagram to highlight a scheduling concern.
It suggested, as the only lady contending in 3 freeski occasions, she would miss out on a full day of halfpipe training. After interesting the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) for another chance to train, she stated she had been turned down.
"This decision is disappointing to me due to the fact that it appears to contradict the spirit of the Games," she stated.
"Daring to be the only woman to complete in 3 events must not be punished. Making finals in one event should not drawback me in another."
BBC Sport comprehends Gu had currently been handpicked as one of 10 professional athletes - five guys, five ladies - invited to a halfpipe testing training session, while having three official training sessions is more than the normal two held before World Cups.
In a declaration, FIS told BBC Sport: "For professional athletes who choose to compete in numerous disciplines and/or multiple events, conflicts can sometimes be unavoidable."
So serious is Gu taking these Olympics that she has actually brought 21 pairs of skis with her to Livigno, seven per event. Asked by BBC Sport the number of she would generally take to a competition, she responded two or 3.
She qualified fifth for the halfpipe final, which was later on held off from Saturday to Sunday due to heavy snowfall, and looked below par in her opening run when she crashed on her very first trick.
Gu redeemed herself on the 2nd run, however, publishing a 94.00 rating that moved her to the top of the podium, and improved it again to 94.75 on her last effort to defend her title.
Compatriot Li Fanghui took silver, while Great Britain's Zoe Atkin won bronze.
"I am not a gaming lady, however if I were, I took a quite huge bet on myself," stated Gu.
"There was a possibility that whatever might fail, and I would win nothing since I'm attempting to do excessive. But in my head I was like, 'Even if everything crashes and burns, I tried, and I will never ever regret attempting'.
"It's not hesitating to attempt, specifically as young females too, since a lot of the time we get in our own way and there's this sense of, 'What if people make fun of me? What if I look silly? What if it's not possible?'.
"It's trusting yourself to try, and if it does not work, that's OK. But who understands? Shoot for the stars."
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