A gold medal hopeful in three freestyle skiing disciplines, 18-year-old Chinese athlete Eileen Gu is poised to be the biggest star of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games.
One of only a handful of elite competitors across halfpipe, slopestyle and big air, the California born-and-raised Gu has broken new ground for freestyle skiing in the lead-up to her Olympic debut.
She became the first freeskier to win two events at the same world championships last year in Aspen, where she took halfpipe and slopestyle gold, along with big air bronze.
She also became the first Chinese entrant to win X Games gold, as well as the first rookie in the history of the competition to reach the podium in three events.
But prodigious skiing talent is only part of the equation for the corporate sponsors lining up to partner with Gu, who competed for the United States before switching allegiance to China, the country of her mother's birth, in 2019.
A part-time model who has graced the cover of the Chinese version of Vogue, the teenager is a natural in front of the camera and is equally at ease handling interviews in English or Mandarin.
Chinese TV broadcasts have featured a steady diet of her competition footage in the lead-up to the Feb. 4-20 games, while her face adorns buses and billboards around the Olympic host city.
While her switch to China drew criticism from a corner of the U.S. skiing establishment, Gu said she hoped to foster stronger ties between the two countries with the move.
"I am proud of my heritage and equally proud of my American upbringing," Gu said in a statement after the decision.
"Through skiing, I hope to unite people, promote common understanding, create communication and forge friendships between nations."
Gu is likely to make her debut appearance in an Olympic final when the first big air medals are handed out next Tuesday. Big air is making its freestyle skiing debut at the Beijing Games, the event previously only contested by snowboarders.
She will commence her bid for gold in her strongest event of halfpipe with the heats on Feb. 17.
