LIVIGNO: Snowboarding megastar Eileen Gu is an image of contrasts.
The 22-year-old American-born Chinese language two-time Olympic gold medallist usually talks about having “the load of two international locations on my again” however she has a always sunny disposition.
She remains to be very younger, but speaks eloquently about being dragged into geopolitical battle as a consequence of her choice as a young person to compete for China regardless of having a deep appreciation for all of the issues rising up within the US gave her.
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Gu is already one of many best free skiers of all-time and is fiercely aggressive, but she places her greatest disappointments behind her with grace and humility then speaks to the hungry media for hours after competitions.
The circus that surrounds her is unimaginable to understand till you see it up shut.
On Monday Gu skied arguably the best slopestyle run of all-time solely to be trumped for gold by Swiss celebrity Mathilde Gremaud, who was the one person who stood between Gu and an unthinkable gold medal sweep of the three free ski disciplines in Beijing. Gu was nonetheless simply 18 and had the crushing weight of expectation of China’s 1.4 billion individuals to cope with.
On most days, Gu would have accomplished the Olympic gold medal set along with her first run of the slopestyle remaining in Livigno, but when Gremaud once more pipped her with an astonishing second run, the silver medallist for a second consecutive Video games brushed herself off and, with out being prompted, sung her best rival’s praises.
Earlier than that she approached a crowd of fanatical Chinese language followers screaming her title and spent a number of minutes ensuring they knew how a lot she appreciated them. She crammed up their cup, so they might depart the venue with a reminiscence cash cannot purchase. Some athletes refuse to turn out to be the kind of people that reinforce the phrase “it is best to by no means meet your heroes”.
Watch the Winter Olympic Video games Milano Cortina 2026 reside and free on Channel 9 and 9Now. Plus, each occasion reside & on demand, each medal in 4K, and unique worldwide protection on Stan Sport.
Chinese language followers wave flags for silver medallist Eileen Gu after the ladies’s freestyle snowboarding slopestyle remaining in Livigno. AP
It is with this context in thoughts that imaginative and prescient of Gu standing alongside Australian teen prodigy Indra Brown on a World Cup podium in December comes speeding again into view.
At simply 15, Brown had simply introduced herself as a celebrity of the longer term with an impressive halfpipe run that landed her a bronze medal. Whereas the Melburnian seems to be at dwelling within the pipe, it was immediately detectable that she was something however with a bottle of champagne in her hand.
It was a second that was very relatable to Gu and she or he leant over from the highest step of the rostrum to lend her protégé, and doubtlessly her subsequent long-term halfpipe rival, a serving to hand popping the cork.
“How cute was that?” Gu mentioned to Australian media, together with Large World of Sports activities, when requested within the early hours of Tuesday morning (AEDT) to talk about the rostrum second she shared with Brown.
“Champagne second, cute. She could not determine how one can open her champagne, so I like went over and helped her open it.
“My first World Cup podium was once I was her age, once I was 15, and the identical factor occurred to me, however nobody helped me, so it was actually embarrassing.”
Even though Gu is among the many highest paid athletes on the planet, raking in additional than $30 million final yr in endorsements alone, she finds Brown relatable on a number of ranges.
Not solely have been each freakishly gifted youngsters who got champagne bottles in entrance of a digicam earlier than they knew what to do with them, they’ve each been guided by the identical coach, Jamie Melton, who helped Gu navigate the highlight at a younger age and is now mentoring Brown.
Gu describes the rising Aussie star as a “little me” and regardless of the present hole in profile, expertise and credentials on the world stage, respects her as a real potential menace to her standing because the undisputed queen of the pipe.
Indra Brown celebrates her victory on the rostrum following the ladies’s World Cup freeski halfpipe occasion in Calgary in January. AP
“We’ve the identical coach who introduced me up round her age and now she’s working with him and so we’re very shut and really pleasant due to that,” Gu mentioned.
“But additionally her ski type jogs my memory a number of myself, particularly within the pipe. The best way she grabs the axis she has within the pipe, going from slope to pipe I feel you actually see that kind of like DNA shift, which is absolutely particular, it makes me actually pleased.
“I feel she’s going to be actually good for the way forward for ladies’s pipe snowboarding. I have been trying for somebody like that for some time and she or he, I feel, is the true deal. She’s the subsequent factor.”
It is not simply Gu who’s enthusiastic about Brown’s potential. Regardless of being one of many youngest rivals at Milano Cortina, the 16-year-old may legitimately be one of many few skiers within the discipline able to springing a monumental upset within the pipe.
That absorbing match-up will start on Thursday morning (AEDT) and can carry to fruition considered one of Gu’s true passions – watching a teenager emerge after refusing to evolve to the pressures of being a young person that usually end in children being pushed out of their sport.
Eileen Gu celebrates along with her silver medal after the ladies’s freestyle snowboarding slopestyle remaining in Livigno. AP
“Sports activities have introduced me such pleasure and such distinctive perspective in life, particularly as a younger girl,” Gu mentioned.
“The arrogance it is instilled in me to compete in an excessive sport that is a male-dominated excessive sport, I imply you are actually pushing the boundaries of the human restrict.
“That (her silver medal efficiency on Monday) was the most effective slopestyle run I’ve ever finished … with the ability to do this additionally instils this stage of deep-seated confidence and I feel so many younger ladies may stand to learn from that.
“You see charges of ladies collaborating, ladies collaborating in sports activities drop off precipitously between the ages of 11 and 14, center faculty. And that is much less about being ‘oh, you must be an expert athlete’, nevertheless it’s simply these unstated social pressures the place it turns into uncool or sports activities not belong to you.
“However that is simply when ladies must really feel extra assured, they should develop into themselves, they should belief themselves and love themselves and guess on themselves when all the things’s on the road.”
The halfpipe competitors will set the stage for two younger ladies striving to push the bounds of what is potential. One among them simply occurs to be Australian.
Strap your self in.
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