Eileen Gu exclusive! Double Olympic freestyle skiing champion opens up on comeback after dizzying global fashion tour
Ailing Gu and the many hats she wears
Gu looked in prime form at the start of the 2022/23 season. The triple Olympic medallist travelled to Aspen, Colorado for the annual Winter X Games straight after making her World Cup season debut with back-to-back halfpipe victories in Calgary, Canada.
However, Gu’s promising season was cut short when she suffered a crash during training and injured her knee.
An MRI scan later revealed an MCL strain, ACL strain and a bone bruise.
“The last few hours really put everything in perspective and made me realize how important it is to keep my body healthy,” Gu wrote on social media after receiving the results of her medical tests. “I’ll be back soon.”
And so she was – but not before dipping her toes in a slew of other pursuits.
The Olympian spent the following 10 months jet-setting around the world for fashion shows, magazine shoots – including the cover of Vogue Beauty China – and jewellery ad campaigns. Gu even walked the famous staircase at the Met Gala – never forgetting, of course, her recovery or physics curriculum at Stanford University.
“I really love having a multifaceted life. I think that being a full-time student, being a full-time model and a full-time professional athlete have really all contributed to different parts of one another,” she said.
“Being in school has informed the way that I learn and that I deal with pressure in skiing. Skiing has helped me feel strong and confident with my body in fashion, and is helping to build a new narrative around beauty, not only what your body looks like, but also what it can do. And then fashion towards school, I think has helped me bring a more creative and personalised approach to my learning.”
With her different passions for skiing, modelling and schoolwork, Gu certainly has a lot on her plate. But even while her agenda is packed to the brim, she is not about to give up any of her three passions.
“I don’t play favourites,” Gu said. “It’s like choosing a favourite child.”
