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 6 medals, including three golds - the third 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 international 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 girl of the Games, she duly delivered.
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 included slopestyle silver.
Later that year, she was named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world.
"I much like being the very best. I've always wanted to do that," said Gu at the Milan-Cortina Olympics, where she earlier won silver medals in the huge air and slopestyle.
"I desired to be the very best at mathematics when I remained in kindergarten, and then I desired to get into the best high school, and I wished to have the greatest SAT rating, 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 then 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 father and Chinese mom, she attended independent school in San Francisco and is currently taking a sabbatical from her studies at Stanford University, where she majors in international relations and formerly 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 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, wishing to "influence millions of young in Beijing - my mom's birth place" before the 2022 Olympics.
Whatever her thinking, it was a decision that proved lucrative.
In December, Forbes ranked Gu as the fourth-highest paid female athlete for 2025, behind just tennis players Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek.
But unlike those 3, only a small amount of her $23.1 m (₤ 17.1 m) income last year came from cash prize 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 strolled the runway for Louis Vuitton and Victoria's Secret and is signed by designing agency IMG.
It also 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 stated to be paid nearly $14m (₤ 10.4 m) over the previous three years by the Bureau.
But her choice to compete for China was likewise one that drew much criticism, not simply due to the fact that of China and the US' rivalry as the world's 2 greatest economies, but due to the fact that of China's authoritarian Communist Party rulers and its bad record on human rights - which it denies.
While the initial furore waned, it has raised its head once 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, intensive care nurse Alex Pretti, 37, and fellow Minnesota homeowner Renee Good, 37, were both eliminated by ICE agents in the city, sparking prevalent protests.
Asked what it suggests to represent the USA, Hess said: "It's a little hard.
"Even if I'm using the flag does not imply I represent everything that's going on in the US."
President Donald Trump reacted to Hess' remark by calling him a "genuine loser", and Gu was among a number of professional athletes who publicly safeguarded Hess and others speaking up.
"As somebody who's been captured in the crossfire in the past, I sympathize with the athletes," she said.
But that enraged her critics, offered Gu chose to speak out against 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, lives in America and chose to complete versus her own nation for the worst human rights abuser on the planet - China".
"You don't get to enjoy the liberties 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 magazine, external, in an interview published in January, she addressed: "I'm not a specialist on this.
"I have not done the research. I do not think it's my service."
A 'ludicrous viewpoint' and 'disappointing choices'
Gu has 2.6 m fans on Instagram, has actually generated 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 in the red colours of China, they line the front of the fan areas, flags embellished with images 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 seeks out her mother, Yan, to review video footage on her phone. Yan, reportedly a successful endeavor capitalist who brought her daughter 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 alongside former International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach.
After competitors, Gu is the one every media outlet wishes to talk to, and she with dignity and nicely requires as she slowly mixes through the combined zone.
But it was from a press conference earlier today that her remarks to a journalist went viral, when she was asked if she felt her two silver medals were really two golds lost.
"I'm the most decorated female freeskier in history. I believe that's an answer in and of itself," she responded.
"How do I say this? Winning a medal at the Olympics is a life-altering experience for each athlete. Doing it five times is significantly harder due to the fact that every medal is equally tough for me however everyone else's expectations increase, best?
"So the 2 medals lost scenario, to be quite frank with you, I believe is type of an absurd viewpoint to take.
"I'm showcasing my best snowboarding, I'm doing things that quite literally have never ever 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 similarity Vogue and Time publication, but it was reports in the Swiss media, external that had the possible to more fuel a competitive rivalry 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 four 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 once again won slopestyle gold, with Gu taking silver, while the Swiss star withdrew from the big air after a crash, with Gu going on to complete 2nd once again.
Before that big air last and as a result of reaching it, Gu had required to Instagram to highlight a scheduling issue.
It meant, as the only female contending in three freeski occasions, she would miss out on a full day of halfpipe training. After attracting the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) for another chance to train, she said she had actually been refused.
"This decision is disappointing to me due to the fact that it seems to contradict the spirit of the Games," she stated.
"Daring to be the only female to contend in three events need to not be punished. Making finals in one occasion need to not drawback me in another."
BBC Sport comprehends Gu had already been handpicked as one of 10 athletes - 5 men, five females - invited to a halfpipe testing training session, while having 3 official training sessions is more than the normal two held before World Cups.
In a statement, FIS told BBC Sport: "For professional athletes who choose to contend in numerous disciplines and/or numerous occasions, conflicts can sometimes be inevitable."
So serious is Gu taking these Olympics that she has actually brought 21 pairs of skis with her to Livigno, 7 per event. Asked by BBC Sport the number of she would normally require to a competitors, she replied two or 3.
She certified 5th for the halfpipe last, which was later postponed from Saturday to Sunday due to heavy snowfall, and looked below par in her opening run when she crashed on her first trick.
Gu redeemed herself on the 2nd run, though, posting a 94.00 score that moved her to the top of the podium, and bettered it once again to 94.75 on her last effort to protect her title.
Compatriot Li Fanghui took silver, while Great Britain's Zoe Atkin won bronze.
"I am not a gaming female, but if I were, I took a pretty huge bet on myself," said Gu.
"There was a possibility that whatever could go wrong, and I would walk away with absolutely 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 ever regret trying'.
"It's not being scared to attempt, particularly as girls too, due to the fact that a great deal of the time we get in our own way and there's this sense of, 'What if individuals laugh at me? What if I look foolish? What if it's not possible?'.
"It's trusting yourself to attempt, and if it doesn't work, that's OK. But who understands? Strive the stars."
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