Eileen Gu is a face you're likely to see a lot more of in the coming weeks. Being the poster girl for the hosts of an Olympics will tend to have that effect.
Gu’s presence in China is already huge, with the 18-year-old instantly recognisable from any number of advertising and sponsorship deals in the country. The Winter Games are only increasing the fanfare around this exceptional freestyle skier.
They actually present a rare occasion for Gu to grace the country with her physical presence, too. After all, she does live in the United States. In fact, she was born there, too.
It is perhaps the most intriguing element to the teenager’s story, that despite her upbringing in San Francisco, learning to ski at Lake Tahoe and being immersed in American culture, the pull to represent the country of her mother’s birth has proven too strong.
While she represented the States until the age of 15, it is while performing under the Five-star Red Flag that Gu’s career has soared - despite the controversy surrounding her switch.
China’s golden girl appears fearless, seamlessly making the switch from the youth to the senior circuit.
She has also embraced opportunities away from the slopes, with a modelling career every bit as demanding as her ski training. Throw in a place at Stanford University and an ability to speak out on matters of social interest and it’s clear that Gu is far from your average sports star.
Eileen Gu is the poster girl for China at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing next month
The teenager was born in the US but has chosen to represent the birth country of her mother
Gu has a huge following on social media and has more than 208,000 followers on Instagram, and she has already appeared on the front cover of Vogue magazine in China (right)
Born in the States to an American father, Gu’s mother Yan, a keen skier herself, was the catalyst for her career on the slopes, booking her lessons so her daughter could keep up with her.
She kept up all right, and then some, eventually pulling away into the competitive ranks. Her ability was plain to see even at the age of 16, when she starred in the Winter Youth Olympics in Lausanne.
Less than a year after her formal request to the International Ski Federation to switch allegiances, Gu won two gold medals at the 2020 event in the big air and halfpipe events. She also picked up silver in slopestyle.
If that didn’t make the freestyle world sit up and take notice, her performance at her first X Games 12 months later forced them to.
Gu landed gold across two events – superpipe and slopestyle – as well as a bronze in the Big Air competition. In doing so, she became the first Chinese athlete to win gold, and the first rookie to walk away with three medals.
Gu sent shockwaves around the skiing world with her performance at the X Games in Aspen
The 18-year-old is already a famous face in China, with millions of views on her Weibo account
