Chinese freestyle skier Eileen Gu will be leaving the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics with at least two silver medals. She could add one more to her total if she can qualify for Saturday’s women’s skiing halfpipe final.
The 22-year-old Gu entered these Olympics as a favorite to win multiple gold medals. Four years ago in Beijing she won the women’s big air and halfpipe events, while earning a silver medal in slopestyle.
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Despite not having a haul of gold medals with the Milan Games winding down, Gu doesn’t look at that as a disappointing result. When asked on Tuesday if she sees her silver medals as “two golds lost,” Gu laughed off the question and offered her perspective of her career accomplishments.
“I’m the most decorated female freeskier in history. I think that’s an answer in and of itself,” Gu said. “How do I say this? Winning a medal at the Olympics is a life-changing experience for every athlete. Doing it five times is exponentially harder, because every medal is equally hard for me, but everybody else’s expectations rise, right?
“So, the two medals lost situation, to be quite frank with you, I think is kind of a ridiculous perspective to take. I’m showcasing my best skiing. I’m doing things that quite literally have never been done before. And so I think that is more than good enough, but thank you.”
Along with her five Olympic medals, Gu is a two-time world champion, three-time X-Games winner, and even won two gold medals at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics. That’s a very decorated career, even at the age of 22.
Gu’s hard work has paid off, literally, as she was the fourth-highest earning female athlete in 2025, earning upwards of $23 million. According to Sportico, all but $20,000 of that $23 million came from endorsements. Not to mention that she was paid a combined $6.6 million by the Beijing Municipal Sports Bureau in 2025 for “striving for excellent results in qualifying for the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics.”
