Eileen Gu rises to the occasion in Beijing

Eileen Gu dispelled any doubt about her being China’s breakout star of the Winter Olympics on Friday, when she stormed to victory in the women’s halfpipe contest. With her second gold medal, and third medal overall, Gu cemented herself as one of the best performing freestyle skiers in Olympic history.

For Gu, the victory was a personal vindication. She stated, “I’m always saying, ‘I want to push harder, I want to show that I can do more’. And today, it kind of just felt like this coming-together moment because it’s my last event at the Olympics.

“I put so much work into this, and to just feel like it was all worth it - all those little moments, the time I put in, in the gym after shooting a fashion editorial for eight to 10 hours, when I ran a half-marathon every week over the summer, when I pushed myself to be the first person in practice and the last person to leave. Just all those little moments I feel like added up and it was just this great realisation that it was all worth it and that it was all real.”

Gu, through her excellence on and off the slope, has become a role model in China. One Chinese resident told Reuters, “I think she’s incredible, super awesome.”

Another said, “I think her performance is beyond my expectations. Because before the Games many of Eileen Gu’s advertisements were pushed to me. At the time, I had absolutely no idea what she was actually capable of. I thought maybe these advertisements will affect her competition ability. But with her two golds and one silver, she has won 25% of China’s gold medals. I think she is very strong.”

Gu vocalized what her success meant to her, stating, “I was very emotional at the top and I chose to do a victory lap because I felt like for the first time I really deserved it, and I really earned it. It was just this great period, punctuation on this amazing journey up until this Olympics.”