介绍： Eileen Gu - the 'snow princess' who divides opinion
From: BBC
Wherever Eileen Gu goes, her fans will follow. Headlines will too.
With five medals - and the opportunity for one more on Saturday - she is the most decorated female Olympic freestyle skier in history.
But she is also someone who transcends her spo...

介绍： Eileen Gu - the 'snow princess' who divides opinion
From: BBC
Wherever Eileen Gu goes, her fans will follow. Headlines will too.
With five medals - and the opportunity for one more on Saturday - she is the most decorated female Olympic freestyle skier in history.
But she is also someone who transcends her sport, a 22-year-old global superstar with a bank balance to make your eyes water.
China fell in love with its 'snow princess' at the Beijing 2022 Olympics where, as the poster girl of the Games, she duly delivered.
She became freestyle skiing's youngest Olympic champion with her big air and halfpipe golds at the age of 18, and the first to win three medals at the same Games when she added slopestyle silver.
Later that year, she was named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world.
"I just like being the best. I've always wanted to do that," said Gu at the Milan-Cortina Olympics, where she has added two more silver medals to her Olympic collection.
"I wanted to be the best at math when I was in kindergarten, and then I wanted to get into the best high school, and I wanted to have the highest SAT score, and then I wanted to get to the best college, and I wanted to be the best skier I could be. Then I wanted to do every event, and then I wanted to win them all. When you get a taste of it, it's kind of addictive."
On and off skis, Gu is a high achiever in every part of her world.
California-born and raised by an American father and Chinese mother, she attended private school in San Francisco and is currently taking a sabbatical from her studies at Stanford University, where she majors in international relations and previously studied quantum physics.
She is also fluent in Mandarin, and as a child would spend summers in Beijing.
"Sometimes it feels like I'm carrying the weight of two countries on my shoulders," Gu said earlier in the 2026 Games.
In 2019, at the age of just 15, she switched her sporting allegiance from the US to China, wanting to "inspire millions of young people in Beijing - my mother's birthplace" before the 2022 Olympics.
Whatever her reasoning, it was a decision that proved lucrative.
In December, Forbes ranked Gu as the fourth-highest paid female athlete for 2025, behind only tennis players Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek.
But unlike those three, only a tiny amount of her $23.1m (£17.1m) income last year came from prize money from her sport - around $100,000 (£74,000).
Instead, it comes through endorsements with brands such as Red Bull, Porsche and Tiffany & Co, while she has walked the runway for Louis Vuitton and Victoria's Secret and is signed by modelling agency IMG.
decorated /ˈdekəreɪtɪd/
adj. 获奖的；荣获荣誉的
The decorated soldier received another medal for bravery.
这位获奖士兵因勇敢再获一枚勋章。
transcend /trænˈsend/
v. 超越；超出
Great music can transcend cultural boundaries.
伟大的音乐可以超越文化的界限。
poster girl /ˈpəʊstə ɡɜːl/
n. 形象代言人；代表人物
She became the poster girl for the environmental movement.
她成了环保运动的形象代言人。
sabbatical /səˈbætɪkl/
n. 休假（通常指用于研究或旅行）
He took a year-long sabbatical to write a book.
他休了一年的长假去写书。
allegiance /əˈliːdʒəns/
n. 效忠；拥护
The soldiers swore their allegiance to the country.
士兵们宣誓效忠祖国。
lucrative /ˈluːkrətɪv/
adj. 获利多的；赚大钱的
She found a lucrative job in the tech industry.
她在科技行业找到了一份收入很高的工作。
endorsement /ɪnˈdɔːsmənt/
n. 代言；宣传
The athlete signed a million-dollar endorsement deal.
这位运动员签下了一份百万美元的代言合同。