Eileen Gu, a true global super star

February 8, 2022. Just 0.75 points make 18-years-old Eileen Gu the youngest-ever Olympic champion in ski freestyle. In Beijing, the Chinese athlete wins the big air competition – and her compatriots go crazy.

Gu, the face of these Winter Games, is unquestionably a global superstar in her sport. In 2020, she won two golds and one silver at the Youth Olympics. In 2021, she came first twice and second once at the World Championships in Aspen. That same year, Gu became the first woman to land a forward double cork 1440. In 2022, her Olympic success didn’t end with gold in big air; there followed two more celebrations on the podium, for a halfpipe win and second place in the slopestyle. Little wonder that for Time, Eileen Gu was one of the 100 most influential personalities in its "Pioneers" category in 2022.

By 2023 she was, according to Forbes, the second-highest earning female athlete in the world. Vogue China dedicated a cover to her. In 2024, she won gold at the Winter X Games for the third time. Her success is reflected on social media, with almost 2 million followers on Instagram.

As a female winter sports star, Eileen Gu comes in the tracks of all those other outstanding women who have been integral to the story of the International Ski Federation in its first hundred years, from Christl Cranz and Daniela Iraschko to Ida Maria Hagen and her fellow Nordic Combined athletes. Today – and every day – we celebrate the rich history of women’s winter sports, and the courage, flair and skill of athletes like Eileen Gu.