Nothing less than gold medals were expected from Eileen Gu in the 2026 Winter Olympics. The American-born phenom representing China at the Olympics is among the most skilled and decorated freeskiers in the world, with 2 Olympic golds and a silver at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Gu fell short of the gold in the slopestyle event and then failed to defend her Big Air title as she once again grabbed the silver. But to Gu, it’s a silver gained rather than a gold lost. 

Gu landed a left-side double cork 1260 with three-and-a-half rotations and a couple of off-axis flips in her third run, earning 179 points. She fell short of Megan Oldham, who secured the gold with 180.75 points. Fans felt like it was a loss for Gu, but the Olympian herself was pretty upbeat. 

“Five-time Olympic medalist kind of has a ring to it, doesn’t it?” She told the media. “It feels really special for it, especially to happen on Chinese New Year. I think the Chinese New Year represents a time of change, opening, and new beginnings. And for me, I guess my new beginning is competing in big air for the first time in four years. And so walking away with a medal is nothing short of incredible.”

It has been a mix of reasons as to why she has not participated in big air events over the last four years. Gu has been struggling with some injuries. She missed the world championships and Asian Winter Games in 2025 because of a shoulder injury. Then, she had a training crash in New Zealand in August. 

In addition, Gu is enrolled at Stanford, majoring in international relations. She is a model as well, appearing on the covers of magazines such as the Chinese editions of Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, Cosmopolitan, GQ, Marie Claire, V, L’Officiel, and Vogue. Naturally, balancing everything means sacrificing something. Initially, Gu did not even plan to give her best in Big Air.

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Gu’s mom, Yan, called a team meeting the day after her slopestyle silver medal, skipping straight to Gu’s third event, halfpipe, omitting the big air event. Nevertheless, Gu wanted to try something different at the Big Air event. “If I can compete, why not?” she said. Despite that confidence, she still had limited expectations.

“Being my first Big Air event in four years, I came into it with very realistic expectations,” Gu told Olympics.com afterwards. “I learned that left-side double cork 1260 in training for this contest, so I’m so happy I landed it under pressure.” After successfully achieving her medal dreams in free ski big air, Gu now moves on to defending her half pipe event.

Eileen Gu Eyes Half Pipe Gold While Detailing Her Training Plans. 

Eileen Gu now enters a more familiar event: the half pipe. In the World Cup opener back in December, she pulled off a clutch final run win. She landed her full run for the first time on the day with back-to-back 900s. Along with a right 720, a switch left 720, and back-to-back alley-oop 540s. Gu’s score of 91.75 was just enough to bump Zoe Atkin out of the top spot. 

It was her 6th consecutive World Cup halfpipe victory. In total, she’s won 10 of the 11 World Cup halfpipe events she’s entered since the last Winter Olympics. She also won the 2025 Snow League event on the same Secret Garden halfpipe. While winning the silver medal was satisfactory, the hunt for gold doesn’t stop 

“I’m going to be visualizing my halfpipe run. I’m going to lie in bed and think about my tricks,” She said. As she prepares for the half pipe event, Gu will also try to celebrate the Chinese New Year if her practice schedule allows her to. “I’m exhausted now, and I just want to go to sleep. But I have training tomorrow night, so we’ll see if I can stay awake,” She said. With the qualifying scheduled on February 19 and the final event on the 21st, it will be a competitive event. Gu is going for the title against the likes of Zoe Atkin, Indra Brown, and others.