Eileen Gu arrived at the Milan Olympics not just to win a few medals but to dominate with multiple golds. The 22-year-old freestyle skiing sensation, who captivated the world with two gold medals and a silver in Beijing four years ago, seemed the one to repeat her feats. However, the mountains of Livigno had a different story to tell.

After her silver in the slopestyle final, Gu watched her fate unfold identically in the big air competition on Monday, settling for another silver medal with a total score of 179.00. She finished behind Canada’s Megan Oldham, who took gold with 180.75 points, and the last place on the podium saw Italy’s Flora Tabanelli take bronze with 178.25.

Well, these silver medal performances come after the expectations went through the roof since her Beijing Games performance in 2022. A Wall Street Journal report published during these Games revealed that Gu and fellow American-born Olympian Zhu Yi received nearly $14 million from the Beijing Municipal Sports Bureau over the past three years.

The payment included $6.6 million in 2025 alone, designated for striving for excellent results in qualifying for the current Games. The payments were inadvertently disclosed in a public budget document before officials hastily removed Gu’s name to avoid any controversy.

However, it didn’t stay hidden from the internet users, as the revelation has reignited debate about China’s aggressive recruitment of foreign-born athletes and the financial incentives used to secure their allegiance.

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Forbes reported that Gu is also the highest-paid athlete at the current edition of the Games, and last year she earned $23 million in total income. Numbers show more surprising details, as from that amount, only $100,000 was obtained from competition prize money. The rest of her income came from endorsement deals with brands such as Louis Vuitton, Porsche, Tiffany & Co., Red Bull, and Victoria’s Secret.

Indeed, those two gold medals from the Beijing Olympics changed everything for her. Gu became the fourth-highest-earning female athlete in the world, graced the covers of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, and was named by Time as one of the 100 most influential people.

While she didn’t dominate in Milan, she has been proud of herself.

Eileen Gu wasn’t disappointed in herself

“I really did overcome so much to get here. The last four years have been challenging, to say the least. I’ve dealt with a number of injuries. A year ago, I had the worst concussion I’ve ever experienced. I had seizures afterwards. There were people concerned [whether] I’m going to wake up,” Eileen Gu told Olympics.com following her silver medal in the women’s freeski slopestyle at the Milan Games.

She added, “So being able to compete and really showcase my best skiing – that was my best slopestyle run that I’ve ever done, and I know that was Mathilde’s best slopestyle that she has ever done as well – to participate in pushing the sport at the level that it’s at, is the highest honour for me.”

In Beijing, slopestyle was the event where she secured her only silver, and this time she repeated it with 86.58, which she scored in her first run. However, her Swiss rival Mathilde Gremaud was just a fraction of a point ahead, with the score of 86.96.

So, it’s not all over for Gu, as she would see herself compete at the women’s halfpipe on February 21, 2026.