Freeski at Beijing 2022: Ailing (Eileen) Gu masters the art of inspiration

On her Instagram page, Ailing (Eileen) Gu still describes herself as a sportsperson. There are a few descriptors she could have chosen, given her multiple talents. Freestyle skiing must be one of those, given her two gold medals and one silver at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. ‘Professional role model’ might be more apt though.

At the Big Air Shougang on Tuesday 8 February, she was waiting to drop in for her final run. But it wasn’t tactics that dictated her choice of trick, it was the idea of setting an example.

“Should I improve on my previous (run) and go for the silver or should I whip out this random trick I’d never done before and go for gold?” she said.

“In my head, I wanted to represent myself and this competitive style that I really take pride in and that desire to push myself and push the sport."

And so she whipped out a left double cork 1620, a trick she had only ever previously imagined.

“Even if I didn’t land it, I felt it would send a message out to the world and hopefully encourage more girls to break their own boundaries. 

“That was my biggest goal going into my last run.”

Gu may not have crashed, but Weibo did, as Gu’s fans piled on the congratulations. By the time she picked up her second gold in the halfpipe on Friday 18 February, she had 5.5 million followers on the platform.

Very few Gu interviews unfold without her discussing what she can do to inspire others. 

Gu grew up in the United States of America. But her mother was born in China, and Gu spent time in Beijing each year. She tells the story of being the only girl in her basketball sessions in Beijing. 

So she recruited a girl from her maths class. And pretty soon the whole class was playing basketball. 

Gu plans to use the Olympic