Eileen Gu,19, has taken the world by storm since becoming the first freestyle skier to win three medals at single Olympics last year at the 2022 Beijing Games. The gold medalist, who was born in San Francisco, California and represents China internationally, was named the 2023 Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the year last week (an encore presentation airs Sunday, May 21st on NBC), and has only added more to her plate after that Olympic success. Gu spoke with On Her Turf about success in Beijing, how the Olympics changed her life, her endeavors in fashion, and how she’s adjusting to life as a college student.
OnHerTurf: You’ve just won the Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year award – congratulations and what does this achievement mean to you?
Eileen Gu: It is such an honor to be winning best action sportsperson of the year with Laureus. I’ve always said since my first speech on Title Nine when I was age 11 or 12 that one of my biggest goals was to support upcoming girls and young people in sports and to help them foster their own passion, discover their own confidence and cultivate a sense of resilience through sport. And I think that those values align very well with Laureus’s purpose and mission. And so, it’s a huge honor to be recognized by an organization like Laureus who is affecting change on such a global scale. Mandela himself, who was the one of the founders, I believe, of Laureus, said that “Sports have the power to unite people” and I couldn’t agree more.
When we last saw you on the Olympic stage, you became the first freestyle skier to win three medals at a single Olympics. How has that performance impacted your life since?
Gu: The 1620 to me was a very, very special moment and the reason for
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Eileen Gu