‘Snow Princess’ Eileen Gu says carried weight of representing China and US after missing out on Olympic gold

In the final at Livigno Snow Park on Feb. 9, Gu achieved her best score of 86.58 points. However, she finished just 0.38 points behind gold medalist Mathilde Gremaud of Switzerland. This result mirrored the 2022 Beijing Olympics, where Gu also finished second to Gremaud in the same event.

The silver medal at Milano-Cortina marks Gu’s fourth Olympic medal, adding to the two golds and one silver she won four years ago.

Born and raised in San Francisco, Gu began her freeski career as an American athlete before switching to represent China, her mother’s homeland, in 2019. This decision placed her in the spotlight, generating massive support in China alongside controversy in the U.S.

Her accolades turned her into an icon in China, where she is affectionately known as the “Snow Princess.”

“Sometimes it feels like I’m carrying the weight of two countries on my shoulders,” she said after the final, as quoted by AFP. “Just being able to ski through all of that, you know. To still show my best and still be so deeply in love with the sport. That’s really what I care about.”

Gu entered the 2026 Winter Games with the goal of securing three gold medals, an unprecedented feat in women’s freestyle skiing. In the decisive slopestyle run, however, she faltered on the first hurdle and crashed into the snow, scoring only 1.65 points for that attempt.

Realizing her chance to surpass Gremaud had vanished, she simply shrugged it off and smiled at the cameras. The Chinese-American superstar insisted she was not disappointed, stating that her performance represented her highest limits at this stage of her career.

“The hardest part has been staying consistent all these years. I’ve had a really tough last four years, dealing with injury and time off the snow and then some mental stuff,” she added.

A year prior to the Olympics, Gu suffered the most severe concussion of her career and even experienced seizures, which raised doubts about her future in the sport. Besides physical setbacks, the 22-year-old athlete and model also had to balance her rigorous academic pursuits at Stanford University and a semester at Oxford University, which significantly limited her training schedule.

Despite these hurdles, Gu praised her performance in Livigno, asserting it was the best slopestyle run of her career. She noted that Gremaud also delivered a peak performance of her career.

The fact that the world’s top two athletes were separated by less than half a point across two consecutive Olympics underscores the rapid evolution and fierce competition in women’s freestyle skiing.

After receiving her medal from Britain’s Princess Anne, Gu smiled and embraced her competitors. She expressed pride in contributing to taking women’s freestyle skiing to new heights.

According to ForbesGu is the highest-earning athlete at the 2026 Winter Olympics, bringing in US$23 million over the past 12 months alone. She will continue her Olympic campaign in the big air and halfpipe events later in February, where she aims to defend her gold medals.