The only Chinese freeskier to earn multiple gold medals at the FIS world championships – and China’s first X Games winner – teen prodigy Eileen Gu Ailing is on a scintillating trajectory less than a year from the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games.
The 17-year-old two-time Youth Olympic Games gold medallist has amassed a unique following in the US and China given her affiliation with both.
US-born Gu opted to represent China over the US in 2019 and looks set to lead the way in the Chinese government’s vision to get 300 million people “on ice” by next year.
From her controversial national team switch, to growing up alongside resilient female figures, to her fledgling fashion career, to being accepted into Stanford University, to aspirations to bridge US-Chinese diplomacy, here’s what you need to know about the teen rumoured to be China’s flag-bearer at the Games.
Biography
Eileen Gu was born on September 17, 2003 in San Francisco, California to an American father and Chinese mother. She started recreational skiing at resorts aged three – much to her mother’s initial disapproval – before delving into the freestyle world of flips, spins and slides aged eight.
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Gu’s abilities grew to the point the US set-up took notice. By the age of nine, she had become champion at the USA Snowboard and Freeski Junior Association and joined the senior set-up four years later.
What is most remarkable is that she would only ski on weekends and holidays and – given her school focus and geography – had significantly less exposure to snow. She explained that while it took hours to travel to and from training, the system meant she did not have any fears of burning out at a young age.
At 15 and already a US national championships threat, Gu claimed her first major wins at the FIS Freeski World Cup Slopestyle in Seiser Alm, Italy and Calgary, Canada. Months later, Gu announced on her social media that she was going to compete for China, thanking the US side and explaining it was a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to promote the sport in a country lesser known for skiing accolades. The move meant she would give up her US passport and naturalise as a Chinese citizen.
Gu won her first piece of silverware under the Chinese banner at the Winter Games New Zealand before leaving the 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne, Switzerland with two golds (big air and half-pipe) and a silver (slopestyle).
Still a semi-pro athlete at that point, Gu’s form continued at the renowned X Games at the top of 2021, where she won two golds (superpipe and slopestyle) and a bronze (big air). She was the first Chinese competitor to win gold in the event’s history, and the only rookie to win three medals.
Two months later, Gu proved a serious “triple threat” again with two golds (half-pipe and slopestyle) and a bronze (big air) at the FIS Snowboard and Freeski World Championships in Aspen, US, becoming the first Chinese freeskier to nab multiple medals. She did so with a broken finger and torn ligament in her hand, meaning she competed without poles.
Beijing 2022 will be Gu’s primary focus for the remainder of the year – her first as a fully professional athlete after being the first pupil from San Francisco University High School to graduate a year early. Post-Winter Games, she has been accepted into Stanford University and will venture further into her fledgling modelling career and US-Chinese diplomacy.
Asian Family
Gu was raised by her mother, Yan, and grandmother, Guo Zhenseng in San Francisco. Though she did not attend Chinese classes, she explained she is fluent in the language as her grandmother cannot speak English.
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Gu’s Beijing-born mother emigrated from the mainland in her twenties for studies in New York then Stanford. She was an avid skier herself and sent her daughter to ski school, though now gets “super nervous” whenever Gu performs at elite level. Gu has been seen video calling her mother and grandmother between events.
They are “by far the two biggest influences in my life – both of them are the definition of empowered women, to the max”, Gu previously told the Post. She added that she learned her fierce, competitive nature from her grandmother and judgment and judgment and work ethic from her mother. “My grandma gave me that drive and desire to win and my mum gave me the tools to do so.”
During the spike in anti-Asian attacks in the US and the rise of the ‘#StopAsianHate’ movement, Gu recalled being in a supermarket in San Francisco with her grandmother when a man ran in screaming profanities about Asians bringing Covid-19 into the country. “I grabbed my grandma and we ran out. I was so scared,” she said, adding that she was “heartbroken” to see other racially charged incidents hit so close to home.
Representing China
Switching nationalities as an Olympian – or prospective one – is not unheard of but is often an awkward topic for the countries involved. Team USA had identified Gu’s talent early on and naturally hoped she would see out her career with them.
However, Gu’s big picture was to inspire a whole new generation of women and felt it was her calling to fill the winter sports gap in China. “It was biggest decision I made in my life”, Gu said, recalling she spent months discussing with family and the Chinese and American ski federations.
Gu said that while the overwhelming majority of feedback received was of encouragement and pride, and she is still friends with former teammates-turned-opponents, she conceded that as a 15-year-old she received death threats on social for the move. She has since put it down as a “character-building moment” and is “frankly really proud of myself and my decision”.
Her agent, Tom Yaps, told NBC sports, “at the end of the day, she really feels she can make an impact on these young women’s lives. She looked around and said, ‘There are so many brilliant role models in the US already’.”
Cultural bridging
An emerging role model for many aspiring Chinese winter sports athletes, Gu hoped her national team transition will act as much more than an adrenaline shot in the country’s multiple billion-dollar aim to build 800 ski resorts and 650 skating rinks by 2022. More specifically, she intends to use her experience to promote the sport for Chinese women.
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Gu, who considers herself “American in the US, Chinese in China”, went to all-girls schools for most of her educational and said one school’s motto – “educate, encourage and empower women” – was ingrained in her life and wants to do the same to others.
From school speeches on women representation and pay gap in sports, to rallying groups of girls to join male-dominated basketball camps during her China visits, to doing voice-overs for Adidas’ women empowerment adverts, Gu vows never to stop. “I want to represent them in a sport that I found was greatly under-represented.”
It did not take long for the titles “snow princess” and “genius girl skier” to do the rounds Chinese social media as fans learned more about Gu’s talents both on and off the slopes. She gets countless private messages on her 600,000-strong Weibo and according to the Sixth Tone website, a Gu-related Weibo hashtag garnered 160 million views post-world championships.
As a result, Gu finds herself in the unique position of representing two cultures – a non-imposing portal to both worlds. Though it may not be top of her agenda, she is interested in bridging cultural gaps in a more formal setting. Yaps confirmed to NBC sports that Gu had received a request to feature at an upcoming China-US relations diplomacy summit.
“I already have so much experience in China-US relations, doing interviews about cultural bridging and working as an ambassador leading up to 2022,” Gu told Forbes, adding in a Xinhua interview: “it’s my goal to use sports as a bridge and then possibly policy later.
Model student
Winter sports and gender representation aside, Gu has had two personal objectives in life: to be accepted into Stanford University and reach the Winter Olympics. “They symbolise the epitome of their respective fields,” she explained to NBC.
Presuming things continue to go smooth sailing, Gu will have completed both of these by the age of 18. She has a deferred entry into Stanford’s class of 2022 – major pending, but leaning towards international relations – and is a shoo-in for Beijing 2022 qualification considering world-class results and home nation places.
If that were not already enough, Gu has been swamped in modelling gigs both sides of the world. She is a familiar figure at the Paris and New York Fashion Weeks and has had her face plastered all over Chinese billboards and magazines. She featured in the SuperELLE China magazine cover just this April and previously said she “loves the sound of camera shutters”. Gu is also into long-distance running and plays the piano.
