Making herstory! Eileen Gu proved she is the star of the Beijing Winter Olympics on Friday, February 18, as she became the first freestyle skier to take home three medals at a single Games.
The 18-year-old already won a gold and a silver medal at the Olympics, but in her third and final event, she took home her second gold.
“I was very emotional at the top and I chose to do a victory lap,” she said of her final ride. “Because I felt like, for the first time, I really deserved it and I really earned it.”
“I feel at peace. I feel grateful. I feel proud,” she continued. “Skiing is all about fun and individuality and being able to express yourself and find that flow, and for myself I really find that in halfpipe. Being able to feel the rhythm of the walls, and being able to put unique grabs, to try different axis, spin different directions — it’s really fun and it’s the essence of the sport.”
The superstar then took to Instagram to pose with her new prizes. “look mom, I really did it. #trifecta,” she captioned a photo of herself.
Of course, people couldn’t help but gush over the achievement. One person wrote, “Yep this is legit,” while another added, “You are fantastic. So proud of you.”
A third person added, “So much respect.”
Gu became interested in skiing since her mom loved the sport. “She took me up to the hill when I was three, which was the youngest age that I would be allowed to play in ski school. So I would be able to get my ski lessons, and then she would be able to get her laps in without me slowing her down. That was how I started skiing,” she recalled.
In addition to being an incredible athlete, Gu is also a model and she recently got accepted to Stanford after nailing her SATs.
So far, Gu is crushing it, and it doesn’t seem like she is stopping anytime soon. “I’ve always said my goal is to globally spread the sport I love to kids, especially girls, and to shift sport culture toward one motivated by passion,” she said. “I’m blown away by how far we have come.”
