Eileen Gu is one of the hottest athletes to ever glide on snow. There’s not a bad angle with this lady here. And yes, she looks like a Sports Illustrated model (which she is) or a young Instagram bikini model.
Eileen can turn a snowy cap into something tropical. And when she sports a bikini… Intense heat is what she can give. So let’s get to know this incredible athlete now and let us all feel excited!
Who is Eileen Gu
Eileen Gu (also known as Gu Ailing) is a Chinese-American freestyle skier who somehow made “winning everything” look like a very reasonable hobby. She competes in halfpipe, slopestyle, and big air—basically, if there’s snow and airtime involved, she’s in.
Born and raised in the U.S., she began representing China in 2019, and things escalated quickly—in the best way. At just 18, she became the youngest Olympic champion in freestyle skiing at the 2022 Beijing Games, taking home gold in big air and halfpipe, plus a silver in slopestyle. Not content with just winning, she also became the first freestyle skier to snag three medals at a single Winter Olympics. Casual history-making.
Then came the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, where she added even more hardware: gold in halfpipe and two silvers in big air and slopestyle. That haul officially made her the most decorated freestyle skier in Olympic history—no fine print, no “in her category,” just period.
Her Early Life
Eileen Gu was born on September 3, 2003, in San Francisco, and from the start, her story came with a little extra horsepower. Her mom, Yan Gu, is a first-generation Chinese immigrant with a résumé that casually includes science degrees, speed skating at Peking University, a master’s from Auburn, and an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business. Her dad is an American Harvard graduate, and her grandfather was a chief electrical engineer in China. In short: high expectations, but also very good genes for getting things done.
Yan raised Eileen as a single mother in San Francisco’s Sea Cliff neighborhood, and by age three, Eileen was already skiing in Lake Tahoe—because apparently that’s just how this story goes. By eight, she’d joined the Northstar free-ski team, and by nine, she had a national title. Most kids are collecting stickers; she was collecting trophies.
School-wise, she kept the same energy. She attended the Katherine Delmar Burke School and San Francisco University High School, spent summers in Beijing leveling up her math skills, and scored a very relaxed 1580 on the SAT. Just light academic flexing.
She was accepted early to Stanford University in 2020 and enrolled in 2022—the same year she appeared at Le Bal des débutantes in Paris, because balancing elite sport and Ivy-adjacent academics apparently still leaves room for a little international elegance.
At Stanford, she joined Kappa Kappa Gamma, studied international relations, and even spent time abroad at Magdalen College, Oxford. She later took a break during the 2025–26 academic year to prepare for the Winter Olympics—because when your extracurriculars include “win gold medals,” your schedule tends to adjust accordingly.
Career Journey
Eileen Gu has a habit of doing things that sound slightly impossible—and then making them look routine. In 2021, she became the first woman to land a forward double cork 1440 in competition. Not long after, at the Winter X Games, she picked up two golds (SuperPipe and Slopestyle) and a bronze (Big Air), becoming the first rookie to win gold in SuperPipe, medal in three events, and—just for good measure—the first athlete representing China to win X Games gold.
She kept the momentum going at the 2021 FIS World Championships, where she won two golds (halfpipe and slopestyle) and a bronze (big air), becoming the first freeskier to take two golds at that event. Oh, and she did it while competing without poles due to a broken hand. Because apparently, fully functional equipment is optional.
Then came the 2022 Beijing Olympics—her official “global takeover” moment. She became the youngest Olympic champion in freestyle skiing, winning gold in big air with a double cork 1620 (her first time landing it in competition, because why ease into things?). She added a silver in slopestyle and another gold in halfpipe, becoming the first freestyle skier to win three medals at a single Winter Olympics. Naturally, she walked away with ESPYs for Best Breakthrough Athlete and Best Female Action Sports Athlete—because the résumé needed more shine.
Her 2021–22 World Cup season was just as dominant: a perfect record in halfpipe, her first crystal globe, and four straight World Cup wins. She also topped the overall park and pipe standings, collecting a second crystal globe in the same season. Efficient, overachieving, very on-brand.
Not every moment has been smooth, though. She withdrew from the 2023 X Games after a heavy training crash that injured her knee. But in 2024, she came back and won gold in SuperPipe—while dealing with a hip injury. She even wrote “Pain is Temporary” on her hand and showed it to the cameras mid-competition, which is either motivation or a warning, depending on who you ask.
Heading into 2026, there was also some attention around reported training support tied to Beijing’s sports authorities—though details around that funding later became less clear publicly.
Through it all, one thing stays consistent: whether it’s landing never-been-done tricks or competing through injuries, Eileen Gu tends to treat limits like suggestions.
Facts and Trivia
Eileen Gu isn’t just collecting medals—she’s collecting headlines, too. In 2022, Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world under its “Pioneers” category, which is a pretty official way of saying, “Yeah, she’s kind of changing the game.” She popped up on the magazine again for its February 2026 edition—because apparently one feature wasn’t enough.
By 2025, she was also one of the highest-earning female athletes on the planet, landing at number four. Not bad for someone who spends a good portion of her time mid-air.
She added a Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year award in 2023, and in 2026, she co-hosted the Laureus World Sports Awards alongside Novak Djokovic—marking the first time two athletes teamed up to host the event. From winning awards to handing them out, she’s basically covering all roles at this point.
Her Body Measurements
Eileen stands 5 feet, 6 inches, and she rocks a 32C-25-34 figure.
Eileen Gu Photos
Join her over 4.7 million followers on Instagram for the latest news about her.
And do check out our Eileen Gu page for more of her sizzling hot pictures.
