ASPEN, Colo.: Whether the alternatives are severe or of a extra trivial nature, Eileen Gu refuses to be hemmed in.
Two years after exploding onto the world stage on the Beijing Winter Games, the 20-12 months-outdated Olympic champion, straight-A scholar and vogue mannequin stays as comfy on a catwalk as a halfpipe. She finds as a lot pleasure in defying classical physics on the mountain in Aspen as exploring quantum physics within the classroom at Stanford.
She may very well be, to place it in 2024 parlance, each bit as fitted to the world of “Barbie” as that of “Oppenheimer.” When requested the query that has, of late, consumed the pop-tradition world she each inhabits and influences — which film did she favor? — not surprisingly, she discovered no purpose to play favorites.
During a large-ranging interview with The Associated Press prematurely of the X Games Aspen, Gu stated she discovered the message in “Barbie” of girls’s empowerment “very compelling,” and, sure, she thinks Margot Robbie ought to have been nominated for an Oscar for a efficiency that required her to transcend pores and skin deep.
But Gu additionally discovered herself nodding in recognition whereas watching the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, whose mastery of quantum mechanics led to the world’s first atomic bomb. Gu takes quantum programs at Stanford and has been identified to cue up podcasts dedicated to the topic.
“The theoretical part, the conceptual part, is very stimulating and interesting to me,” Gu stated, as she rested on a sofa, making an attempt to offer her hip a break after a scary fall in halfpipe observe the day earlier than.
She attributes her curiosity there to what she calls her “nerd heritage.” Gu’s mom, Yan, studied chemistry, biochemistry and molecular biology, amongst different topics, earlier than changing into a enterprise capitalist and, finally, her daughter’s No. 1 fan and help system.
Eileen says she plans to symbolize Yan’s native nation, China, on the Olympics in 2026 — identical as she did in 2022.
It’s a call that figures to overshadow all different dialog associated to Gu as soon as the Winter Games descend on Italy in two years. Yet, it’s one that hardly registers this weekend on the X Games, which, like each motion-sports activities contest exterior of the Olympics, places nearly zero emphasis on the place persons are from and focuses extra on what they’ll do.
Three years in the past in Aspen, at age 17, she turned the primary X Games rookie to medal in three occasions. It was there that she realized she might do that on the highest degree. It additionally was proof that it was attainable to juggle all her roles: scholar, mannequin, pitchwoman, daredevil.
Barely a 12 months later, Gu received two golds ( large air, halfpipe) and one silver (slopestyle) in China, the place she turned the primary motion-sports activities athlete to take three medals in a single Games.
Even earlier than these Olympics, it was clear that barring one thing unlucky, Gu had a very good likelihood to be wealthy regardless of which path she selected — or which nation’s flag she placed on her parka. She determined to ski for China as a result of, she stated, whereas the game has a wholesome foothold within the U.S., this is able to give thousands and thousands of women in China a primary likelihood to see what’s attainable on the snow.
“It was remarkable hearing from kids, who are 11, 12 years old, telling me I changed the course of their lives,” Gu stated, talking a couple of go to to China for a World Cup occasion final month. “That’s a very profound thought for a tween to be having, and it’s something I don’t take lightly.”
She says her mission hasn’t modified a lot as broadened. She cited a latest examine by Deloitte that estimated elite girls’s sports activities will generate $1.28 billion in income this 12 months, up 300% from three years in the past.
“It’s a staggering statistic that I think is really indicative of the era we’re in now,” she stated. “And perhaps the role that I hope to play, not only in skiing but more broadly in women’s sports globally.”
In a nod to the highlight the Olympics can shine on an athlete in an off-mainstream sport, Gu is serving as an envoy for the IOC’s Youth Olympic Games. She additionally put her title behind Salt Lake City’s effort to carry a Winter Games again to Utah — a deal that was all however sealed final fall.
That the subsequent Winter Olympics might be anchored in Milan — one of many vogue capitals of the world — appears nearly as becoming for Gu because the final ones happening in China.
Both are form of like second properties. Gu’s social media feeds are liberally sprinkled with walks down vogue runways, her newest cowl pictures in glamour magazines and a gentle stream of sponsors that has truly shrunk — from greater than 20 to round 12 — as she has shifted her focus to varsity.
While college students at Stanford are required to take 48 course hours in a college 12 months, Gu knocked out 72 as a freshman.
“I want to get ahead in case I want to take time off in the future,” she stated.
Even with the course load and the occasional intercontinental journeys, she insists she’s dwelling a standard scholar’s life on campus. For all of the A’s she’s incomes, amongst her proudest accomplishments is the basketball membership she has began on campus.
She calls it the “Gu-League” — a takeoff, she stated, on the NBA’s G League, besides no one on this circuit might be going professional or successful gold. It’s a kind of uncommon situations within the lifetime of this 20-12 months-outdated phenom the place it feels greater than effective to not assume large.
“I always state these grand goals of, like, ‘In China, we can do this,’” Gu stated. “But it’s right here. It’s right around me. It’s in my community. It’s at Stanford. It’s very real. It’s super fun and everyone loves it.”
___
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics
(This story has not been edited by News18 workers and is revealed from a syndicated information company feed – Associated Press)
