Who is Eileen Gu? The 'inspirational' star of the Winter Olympics sparking debate

The Milan Cortina Winter Olympics are in full swing, and there's one particular athlete that everyone is talking about.

That would be Eileen Gu, a freestyle skier who was born in the United States (San Francisco, specifically) but represents China in the halfpipe, slopestyle, and big air events and is the most decorated female Olympic freestyle skier in history.

Outside of her sport, the 22-year-old is studying quantum physics at Stanford University. She's also graced the cover of Vogue Hong Kong and China’s In Style Magazine and has 2 million Instagram followers, making waves as she seeks to redefine what it means to be an athlete in 2026.

“I’m a full-time student who’s really athletic,” she explained in an interview with TIME. “I can have a conversation with a physicist and stand my ground, and I can also walk a runway show the next day. I think that's pretty revolutionary, especially as a young person. Because the whole multihyphenate thing often happens in different stages in life."

Why does Gu represent China?

Gu, whose mother is Chinese, controversially chose to ski for China at the Beijing Games in 2022 after previously competing for Team USA up until 2019. The reason she cited for the switch was that China had less representation at the Winter Games than the United States.

"The U.S. already has the representation,” Gu told the same publication about her decision. “I like building my own pond.”

It was there when Gu made history by becoming the youngest Olympic champion in freestyle skiing after winning gold medals in halfpipe and big air, as well as a silver medal in slopestyle. Plus, she became the first-ever freeskier to win three medals at a single Winter Olympics.

She has become the highest-paid athlete of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, as she earned an estimated $23 million by the end of 2025, almost entirely from endorsements, according to Sportico.

How is Gu performing at the 2026 Winter Olympics?

At the 2026 Winter Olympics, Gu won a gold medal in the Women's halfpipe event and two silver medals, one in the Women's big air and another in the Women's slopestyle skiing events.

Last week, Gu took to Instagram to express her disappointment at the schedule ahead of the women's big air final on February 16, where she took home the silver.

"Unfortunately, @fisparkandpipe has scheduled big air finals and pipe training with 100% overlap, which means I’ll now be missing an entire day of pipe training," she wrote in an Instagram post.

"I have asked for fair options like joining one training with the snowboarders, or getting even one hour alone to train, but to no avail. No other woman in the halfpipe field is competing in another event, and for good reason - Halfpipe is different from slope and big air, and demands its own training time accordingly.

She described the decision as "disappointing" as she says "it seems to contradict the spirit of the games."

"Daring to be the only woman to compete in three events should not be penalized - making finals in one event should not disadvantage me in another. What kind of message does this send to future athletes who love skiing for its essence and want to compete in every event? This was a totally avoidable issue and I am saddened by the hardline stance FIS has chosen to take.

She concluded, "With that said, I am proud of myself for being willing to give big air my best shot, and am looking forward to competing tomorrow night under the lights with this incredible field of women."

Awkward clash with reporter

During a press conference Monday, a reporter asked if she considered her two silver medal wins so far at the Winter Olympics as “two silvers gained or two golds lost.”

The American-born Team China star immediately laughed off the reporter’s question before firing back: “I’m the most decorated female freeskier in history, I think that’s an answer in and of itself.”

She continued, “How do I say this? Winning a medal at the Olympics is a life-changing experience for every athlete. Doing it five times is exponentially harder because every medal is equally hard for me, but everybody else’s expectations rise, right?

“The two medals lost situation, to be quite frank with you, I think is kind of a ridiculous perspective to take,” she said. “I’m showcasing my best skiing, I’m doing things that quite literally have never been done before so I think that is more than good enough, but thank you.”

Gu responds to JD Vance's criticism

Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images, and Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

In a recent interview with Fox News, vice president JD Vance was asked about Gu's decision to compete for China instead of the US.

"I certainly think that somebody who grew up in the United States of America, who benefited from our education system, from the freedoms and liberties that make this country a great place, I would hope that they want to compete with the United States of America," he said.

“So, I’m going to root for American athletes. I think part of that is people who identify themselves as Americans. That’s who I’m rooting for in this Olympics.”

Since then, Gu responded to Vance's remarks during an interview with USA Today, she quipped, "I’m flattered. Thanks, JD! That’s sweet."

The athlete was then asked if she felt “like a bit of a punching bag for a certain strand of American politics at the moment."

To which Gu agreed and replied, "So many athletes compete for a different country. People only have a problem with me doing it because they kind of lump China into this monolithic entity, and they just hate China. So it’s not really about what they think it’s about.”

She also revealed others who have criticised her decision, as she even recalled being “physically attacked” on Stanford University’s campus in "broad daylight."

“It was pretty serious,” Gu added.

What are people saying about Gu on social media?

On social media, viewers are praising Gu's performance and achievement, while others are also complementing her "insane face card".

Actor Simu Liu wrote, "I am so freaking proud of Eileen Gu. inspirational, resilient, intelligent and well spoken in two languages."

"Be Eileen Gu," a second person said, while listing off her talents and achievements.

A third person posted, "Eileen Gu insane face card."

"Eileen Gu's facecard is ridiculous, they can never make me hate her," another person shared.

A fifth person asked, "Is there something this girl cannot do because Douyin just informed me that Eileen Gu sleeps 10h a day, scored 1850 on SATs, studies quantum physics at Stanford, is a serious model, has 2 Olympic golds and 2 silvers at age 22, and apparently can sing and play the piano well ???"

Elsewhere from Indy100, Why do the Winter Olympics medals keep breaking? and Canada’s curling team accused of cheating – and the internet is hooked.

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