Olympic freestyle skier Eileen Gu isn't ready to step out of the spotlight just yet.
Gu, a California native, received plenty of backlash for not representing the United States in the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics. And yet, she still won gold in the halfpipe final and claimed silver medals in the Big Air and slopestyle events.
"Winning a medal at the Olympics is a life-changing experience for every athlete," Gu said. "Doing it five times is exponentially harder because every medal is equally hard for me, but everybody else’s expectations rise, right? And so the ‘two medals lost’ situation to be quite frank with you I think is kind of a ridiculous perspective to take. I’m showcasing my best skiing, I’m doing things that quite literally have never been done before, and so I think that is more than good enough."
© Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images.
With the 2026 Winter Games officially over, Gu is spending quality time away from the slopes. A few days ago, the six-time Olympic medalist was spotted with Caitlin Clark at Milan Fashion Week.
On Tuesday night, Gu wore a stunning dress at Paris Fashion Week. It was a bold look that left plenty of fans in awe.
"Stunning is an understatement," one person commented.
"I'm obsessed with this," a second person said.
"So beautiful," another person wrote.
Eileen Gu isn't backing down.
Despite all the criticism Gu has received for representing China at the Olympics, she explained why she's proud of her decision.
"When I was 15, I announced my decision to compete for China. At the time, I had spent one season on the US team, and had been lucky enough to meet my heroes in person. I am forever grateful for that season, and continue to maintain a close relationship with the team. I had spent every summer in China since I was 8 setting up summer camps on trampoline and dry slope for kids and adults, ranging from 7 to 47 years old, so I knew the industry was tiny. I felt like I knew everyone. Skiing for Team China meant the opportunity to uplift others through the universal culture of sport, and to introduce freeskiing to hundreds of millions of people who had never heard of it, especially with the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics around the corner," Gu wrote on Instagram.
"I can look back now, at 22, and tell 12 year old Eileen that there are now terrain parks full of little girls, who will never doubt their place in the sport. I can tell 15 year old me that there are now millions of girls who have started skiing since then, in China and worldwide. A lot of people won’t understand or believe that I made a decision to create the greatest amount of positive impact on the world stage that I could, at this age, given my interests and passions. Three golds and six medals later, I can confidently say was once a dream is now a reality."
It's safe to say Gu isn't going to let all the outside noise influence her career.