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 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 international super star with a bank balance to make your eyes water.
China fell for its 'snow princess' at the Beijing 2022 Olympics where, as the poster lady of the Games, she appropriately delivered.
She ended up being freestyle snowboarding's youngest Olympic champion with her big air and halfpipe golds at the age of 18, and the first to win three medals at the very same Games when she added slopestyle silver.
Later that year, she was named one of Time publication's 100 most influential people on the planet.
"I similar to being the best. I have actually constantly wished to do that," stated Gu at the Milan-Cortina Olympics, where she earlier won silver medals in the huge air and slopestyle.
"I wanted to be the finest at math when I was in kindergarten, and after that I wished to get into the finest high school, and I desired to have the highest SAT score, and then I desired to get to the very best college, and I wanted to be the best skier I might be.
"Then I wished to do every event, and then I desired to win them all. When you get a taste of it, it's sort 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 dad and Chinese mom, she participated in private school in San Francisco and is presently taking a sabbatical from her research studies at Stanford University, where she majors in global relations and formerly studied quantum physics.
She is likewise fluent in Mandarin, and as a kid would spend summer seasons in Beijing.
"Sometimes it seems like I'm carrying the weight of two countries on my shoulders," Gu said previously in the 2026 Games.
In 2019, at the age of simply 15, she switched her sporting obligation from the US to China, wanting to "motivate countless young individuals in Beijing - my mother's birthplace" before the 2022 Olympics.
Whatever her reasoning, it was a decision that showed rewarding.
In December, Forbes ranked Gu as the fourth-highest paid female athlete for 2025, behind only 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 cash prize from her sport - around $100,000 (₤ 74,000).
Instead, it comes through recommendations with brands such as Red Bull, Porsche and Tiffany & Co, while she has walked the runway for Louis Vuitton and Victoria's Secret and is signed by designing 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 overall, the two athletes were stated to be paid almost $14m (₤ 10.4 m) over the past 3 years by the Bureau.
But her choice to compete for China was likewise one that drew much criticism, not just because of China and the US' rivalry as the world's two most significant economies, but because of China's authoritarian Communist Party rulers and its bad record on human rights - which it rejects.
While the preliminary furore waned, 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, intensive care nurse Alex Pretti, 37, and fellow Minnesota resident Renee Good, 37, were both killed by ICE agents in the city, sparking widespread demonstrations.
Asked what it suggests to represent the USA, Hess stated: "It's a little tough.
"Even if I'm wearing the flag does not mean I represent whatever that's going on in the US."
President Donald Trump reacted to Hess' comment by calling him a "genuine loser", and Gu was among a number of professional athletes who openly safeguarded Hess and others speaking up.
"As someone who's been captured in the crossfire in the past, I sympathize with the athletes," she said.
But that enraged her critics, provided Gu picked to speak out against Trump but has never ever criticised China.
Former NBA player Enes called her a "traitor", adding she "was born in America, raised in America, resides in America and chose to compete against her own nation for the worst human rights abuser on earth - China".
"You don't get to delight in the liberties of US citizenship while serving as a global PR asset for the Chinese Communist Party," he wrote on X.
When asked about China's human rights record by Time magazine, external, in an interview released in January, she responded to: "I'm not a professional on this.
"I have not done the research. I don't think it's my organization."
A 'outrageous viewpoint' and 'disappointing decisions'
Gu has 2.6 m followers on Instagram, has collected 11.7 m likes on TikTok, and at the Livigno Snow Park high up in the Italian Alps, no athlete has more fans in attendance.
Clad at a loss colours of China, they line the front of the fan areas, flags adorned 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 review video footage on her phone. Yan, supposedly a successful investor who brought her child up single-handledly, is certified at the Games and is the first person Gu celebrates her successes with.
During Monday's huge air last, Yan was seen watching along with previous International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach.
After competitors, Gu is the one every media outlet wishes to speak with, and she with dignity and politely requires as she gradually mixes through the combined zone.
But it was from a press conference previously today 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 a response in and of itself," she responded.
"How do I state this? Winning a medal at the Olympics is a life-altering experience for each professional athlete. Doing it five times is tremendously harder since every medal is equally hard for me however everyone else's expectations increase, right?
"So the two medals lost scenario, to be rather frank with you, I believe is type of a ludicrous point of view to take.
"I'm showcasing my best skiing, I'm doing things that quite actually have actually never been done before so I think that is more than great enough. But thank you."
In the lead-up to the Games, Gu did interviews with the likes of Vogue and Time magazine, but it was reports in the Swiss media, external that had the prospective 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 group 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 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 end up 2nd again.
Before that huge air last and as a result of reaching it, Gu had taken to Instagram to highlight a scheduling issue.
It implied, as the only female competing in three freeski events, she would miss out on a complete day of halfpipe training. After interesting the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) for another opportunity to train, she stated she had actually been denied.
"This decision is disappointing to me since it seems to contradict the spirit of the Games," she said.
"Daring to be the only lady to compete in 3 events need to not be penalised. Making finals in one event ought to not downside me in another."
BBC Sport comprehends Gu had already been handpicked as one of 10 athletes - 5 men, 5 ladies - welcomed to a halfpipe screening training session, while having 3 official training sessions is more than the typical 2 held before World Cups.
In a declaration, FIS informed BBC Sport: "For professional athletes who choose to contend in several disciplines and/or several occasions, conflicts can sometimes be inescapable."
So serious is Gu taking these Olympics that she has brought 21 sets of skis with her to Livigno, 7 per occasion. Asked by BBC Sport the number of she would usually require to a competitors, she responded 2 or 3.
She certified 5th for the halfpipe final, which was later on postponed 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, posting 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 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 pretty big bet on myself," stated Gu.
"There was an opportunity that everything might go wrong, and I would win nothing due to the fact that I'm trying to do too much. But in my head I resembled, 'Even if whatever crashes and burns, I attempted, and I will never regret attempting'.
"It's not hesitating to try, 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 laugh at me? What if I look foolish? What if it's not possible?'.
"It's trusting yourself to try, and if it doesn't work, that's OK. But who knows? Strive the stars."
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