The competition just concluded on 22 Feb 2026 GMT+7 with the Winter Olympics Milano Cortina 2026, held in Italy. Yet, highlights of professional athletes continue to captivate fans, and one such athlete is Eileen Gu a professional freestyle skier on China's national team who recently won 2 silver medals and 1 gold medal at the latest Olympics, bringing her total Olympic medal count to six.
Eileen Gu's global acclaim stems not only from her athletic prowess but also from her sharp intellect and eloquence in media interviews, demonstrating excellent communication skills. Even the Olympic organizers commented, “There is much we can learn from Eileen Gu” and “You make people worldwide proud of you.”
At just 22 years old, Eileen Gu has been skiing since the age of 3 and became a U.S. national champion by age 9. Her intense training and talent earned her a place representing her country on the international stage. In 2022, she competed in the Winter Olympics in Beijing, choosing to represent China despite being born and raised in the United States.
After those Olympics, her career progressed beyond sports into fashion, modeling, securing sponsorships from major brands, and enrolling in a world-class university. Today, she ranks among the highest-paid female athletes worldwide, with Forbes reporting her total earnings exceeding 23 million USD.
This article from Thairath Money columnHow to Make Moneyintroduces this dynamic female athlete who has won many hearts. Raised by an immigrant mother, she made a new chapter in history by competing under China's flag, gaining global fame, amassing significant earnings, and becoming a role model for the younger generation.
Eileen Gu was born and raised in San Francisco, USA. Her mother is Chinese and her father American. Though little is known about her early childhood, she grew up with a mother who worked as a venture capitalist and investor. She started skiing at age 3, skiing every holiday while her mother worked part-time as a ski instructor.
Besides skiing, Eileen Gu was also interested in long-distance running (Cross-Country) and consistently practiced piano. During summer breaks, she often flew back to her mother's home in China. As a teenager, she focused primarily on skiing, training intensively to become a professional athlete while also studying and regularly using Chinese as a second language.
She gained skiing experience from a young age, winning the youth championship of the USA Snowboard and Freeski Association at just 9 years old, then competing at the senior level by age 13.
At 15, in January 2019, she claimed her first victory at the FIS Freeski World Cup Slopestyle event in Seiser Alm, Italy. Later that June, she chose to switch her competition allegiance to represent China, having previously competed for the United States.
“It was a very difficult decision for me…” Eileen Gu described her feelings after changing her national team affiliation, explaining, “This is an opportunity to inspire millions of young people in the country where my mother was born. If I can inspire even one girl to dare to push beyond limits, then my wish is fulfilled.”
Since then, Eileen Gu has become one of the world's top professional skiers, winning major championships including the Winter Youth Olympic Games Lausanne 2020 and World Cup events. Notably, at the 2021 X Games, she became the first Chinese national team skier to win gold and the first female athlete to earn three gold medals in her debut.
Her memorable achievements also include winning three medals at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China, where she won two golds in Big Air and Halfpipe and one silver in Slopestyle.
However, her choice to compete for China and her Olympic success sparked controversy among some conservative Americans who criticized her amid U.S.-China geopolitical tensions, accusing her of betrayal to the country that raised and shaped her into a world-class skier.
Eileen Gu sought to rise above such conflicts, telling ESPN in 2021, “When I am in the U.S., I am American, but when I am in China, I am Chinese.” She expressed her intent to focus conversations about her on her beloved sport and her role as a role model for Chinese female athletes.
Normally, Olympic rules require athletes to hold the nationality of the country they represent, but there is no evidence that Eileen Gu renounced her American citizenship, and Chinese law does not allow dual nationality.
Most recently, at the Winter Olympics Milano Cortina 2026, as a freestyle skier for China, she won two silver medals and one gold. She also dominated media and social platforms with her smart and articulate interview responses, earning worldwide admiration and support for her ongoing competitions.
According to the 2025 list of highest-paid female athletes byForbes,Eileen Gu ranks fourth, behind tennis star Coco Gauff, who leads with about 33 million USD, followed by Aryna Sabalenka with 30 million USD and Iga Swiatek with 25.1 million USD. Gu earned approximately 23.1 million USD.
Since winning medals at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, where she became the youngest freestyle skiing Olympic champion at 18, she has consistently ranked among the top five highest-earning female athletes annually.
However, despite many medals and victories, her prize money from skiing competitions last year was under 1 million USD. She made approximately 23 million USD from numerous off-field sponsorship deals with brands like Red Bull, Porsche, IWC Schaffhausen, and recently electronics company TCL.
These sponsorship earnings form the bulk of her total income, as in 2025 she earned only about 40,000 USD from winning World Cup events in Slopestyle and Halfpipe, plus 55,000 USD from Snow League Halfpipe competitions, totaling less than 1 million USD.
Beyond sports and major sponsorships, she also works as a model with IMG Models and has walked fashion shows for global brands such as Victoria’s Secret and Louis Vuitton since age 16.
Eileen Gu has appeared on six Chinese fashion magazine covers in one summer alone. In the U.S., she has graced the covers of Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition, TIME, and Vogue Hong Kong, and walked runways in fashion capitals including Milan, Shanghai, Paris, and New York City.
Academically, Eileen Gu is highly capable. She completed a two-year high school curriculum in just one year while simultaneously training intensively and winning skiing championships worldwide. She enrolled at Stanford University majoring in quantum physics, paused her studies to prepare for the Olympics, and resumed in 2022 after the Beijing games.
Sources:People,Time,Red Bull, The Athletic [1][2],Forbes,CNN,CNBC,Britannica,Stanford Report
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