ExplainerEileen Gu: biography, family, US-China switch, race and gender advocacy, and becoming Beijing 2022 Winter Games poster girl

The 17-year-old two-time freeski world champion closing in on two lifelong goals: getting into Stanford University and qualifying for the Winter Olympics

‘It was the biggest decision I made in my life’ said Gu after announcing she would compete for China to inspire millions of young women

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Chinese-American Eileen Gu after competing in the women’s halfpipe skiing qualifiers of the US Grand Prix and World Cup in March. Photo: AP

Published: 11:00am, 1 May 2021Updated: 5:23pm, 18 Apr 2022

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.

Eileen Gu of China in the women’s freeski slopestyle final at the US Grand Prix World Cup at Buttermilk Ski Resort in Aspen, Colorado in March. Photo: AFP

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.