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, consisting of 3 golds - the 3rd of which she won in Sunday's halfpipe - she is the most embellished freestyle skier in the history of the Games.


But she is likewise somebody who transcends her sport, a 22-year-old worldwide super star with a bank balance to make your eyes water.


China fell in love with its 'snow princess' at the Beijing 2022 Olympics where, as the poster lady of the Games, she appropriately provided.


She ended up being freestyle snowboarding's youngest Olympic champion 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 named among Time publication's 100 most influential people worldwide.


"I just like being the very best. I have actually constantly desired to do that," stated Gu at the Milan-Cortina Olympics, where she earlier won silver medals in the huge air and slopestyle.


"I desired to be the best at mathematics when I was in kindergarten, and then I desired to enter into the best high school, and I wished to have the highest SAT rating, and after that I wished to get to the very best college, and I wished to be the very best skier I might be.


"Then I wished to do every occasion, and after that I wished to win them all. When you get a taste of it, it's sort of addictive."


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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 personal school in San Francisco and is presently taking a sabbatical from her studies at Stanford University, where she majors in global relations and previously studied quantum physics.


She is likewise fluent in Mandarin, and as a child would invest summer seasons in Beijing.


"Sometimes it feels like I'm bring the weight of two nations on my shoulders," Gu stated previously in the 2026 Games.


In 2019, at the age of simply 15, she switched her sporting obligation from the US to China, wishing to "inspire millions of young individuals in Beijing - my mom's birthplace" before the 2022 Olympics.


Whatever her reasoning, it was a choice that proved lucrative.


In December, Forbes ranked Gu as the fourth-highest paid female professional athlete for 2025, behind just tennis players Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek.


But unlike those 3, just a tiny quantity of her $23.1 m (₤ 17.1 m) earnings in 2015 came from reward money from her sport - around $100,000 (₤ 74,000).


Instead, it comes through endorsements with brand names such as Red Bull, Porsche and Tiffany & Co, while she has actually walked the runway for Louis Vuitton and Victoria's Secret and is signed by modelling firm IMG.


It likewise emerged in 2025, as reported in the Wall Street Journal, external, that Gu and another professional athlete were set to be paid a combined $6.6 m (₤ 4.9 m) by the Beijing Municipal Sports Bureau.


In total, the 2 athletes were said to be paid almost $14m (₤ 10.4 m) over the previous 3 years by the Bureau.


But her choice to contend for China was also one that drew much criticism, not simply since of China and the US' rivalry as the world's 2 biggest economies, however due to the fact that of China's authoritarian Communist Party rulers and its bad record on human rights - which it rejects.


While the preliminary furore died down, it has actually 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 tensions in the US.


In January, extensive care nurse Alex Pretti, 37, and fellow Minnesota resident Renee Good, 37, were both eliminated by ICE agents in the city, sparking prevalent protests.


Asked what it indicates to represent the USA, Hess said: "It's a little hard.


"Just due to the fact that I'm wearing the flag doesn't imply I represent everything that's going on in the US."


President Donald Trump reacted to Hess' remark by calling him a "real loser", and Gu was one of numerous professional athletes who openly protected Hess and others speaking out.


"As someone who's been captured in the crossfire previously, I sympathize with the professional athletes," she stated.


But that infuriated her critics, provided Gu picked to speak out versus Trump but has actually never criticised China.


Former NBA gamer Enes Kanter Freedom called her a "traitor", including she "was born in America, raised in America, resides in America and selected to contend versus her own nation for the worst human rights abuser on the planet - China".


"You do not get to enjoy the liberties of US citizenship while functioning as a global PR property for the Chinese Communist Party," he composed on X.


When inquired about China's human rights record by Time magazine, external, in an interview published in January, she answered: "I'm not an expert on this.


"I haven't done the research. I do not believe it's my service."


A 'ridiculous perspective' and 'frustrating decisions'


Gu has 2.6 m followers on Instagram, has accumulated 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 attendance.


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 commemorate 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, reportedly an effective venture capitalist who brought her child up single-handledly, is certified at the Games and is the very first person Gu celebrates her successes with.


During Monday's huge air last, Yan was seen enjoying together with previous International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach.


After competitions, Gu is the one every media outlet wishes to speak with, and she with dignity and nicely obliges as she slowly shuffles through the blended zone.


But it was from a press conference earlier this week that her remarks to a reporter went viral, when she was asked if she felt her 2 silver medals were actually two golds lost.


"I'm the most embellished female freeskier in history. I believe that's an answer in and of itself," she replied.


"How do I say this? Winning a medal at the Olympics is a life-altering experience for every professional athlete. Doing it 5 times is exponentially harder since every medal is equally difficult for me however everyone else's expectations rise, best?


"So the two medals lost situation, to be quite frank with you, I think is kind of an absurd perspective to take.


"I'm showcasing my finest snowboarding, I'm doing things that rather literally have never been done before so I believe that is more than good enough. But thank you."


In the lead-up to the Games, Gu did interviews with the similarity Vogue and Time magazine, but it was reports in the Swiss media, external that had the potential to further 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, simply as he had 4 years previously before Beijing 2022.


At those Games, Gremaud pipped Gu to slopestyle gold, while Gu won the huge 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 finish 2nd again.


Before that big air final and as an outcome of reaching it, Gu had actually taken to Instagram to highlight a scheduling problem.


It suggested, as the only woman contending in 3 freeski occasions, she would miss a full day of halfpipe training. After appealing to the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) for another chance to train, she stated she had actually been turned down.


"This is frustrating to me since it seems to oppose the spirit of the Games," she said.


"Daring to be the only lady to contend in 3 events need to not be penalised. Making finals in one event must not disadvantage me in another."


BBC Sport understands Gu had actually currently been handpicked as one of 10 professional athletes - 5 males, 5 ladies - invited to a halfpipe screening training session, while having three main training sessions is more than the usual two held before World Cups.


In a statement, FIS told BBC Sport: "For professional athletes who choose to compete in numerous disciplines and/or multiple events, conflicts can in some cases be unavoidable."


So major is Gu taking these Olympics that she has actually brought 21 pairs of skis with her to Livigno, seven per occasion. Asked by BBC Sport how many she would normally require to a competition, she replied 2 or 3.


She certified fifth for the halfpipe final, which was later delayed 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, though, publishing a 94.00 rating that moved her to the top of the podium, and bettered it again to 94.75 on her final effort to safeguard her title.


Compatriot Li Fanghui took silver, while Great Britain's Zoe Atkin won bronze.


"I am not a gaming woman, however if I were, I took a quite big bet on myself," said Gu.


"There was a chance that whatever could go wrong, and I would leave with absolutely nothing due to the fact that I'm trying to do too much. But in my head I was like, 'Even if everything crashes and burns, I attempted, and I will never be sorry for attempting'.


"It's not hesitating to try, especially as girls too, because 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 dumb? What if it's not possible?'.


"It's trusting yourself to attempt, and if it does not work, that's OK. But who knows? Strive the stars."


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