If Eileen Gu’s account of final Saturday’s Freestyle Ski World Cup occasion in Calgary is something to go by, a day within the Olympian’s life is as diversified as it’s busy: She took first place in morning qualifiers, wrote two essays, learn some René Descartes and George Berkeley for a philosophy class after which “did some physics” earlier than returning to the slopes for the ultimate.
This time final yr, American-born Gu was lower than two weeks away from making her Olympic debut in Beijing, representing China, her mom’s nation of start. As one of many Video games’ most closely sponsored athletes, she was already a recognizable face. However few outdoors the snowboarding world had seen her in motion. Any suggestion that her skills had been overstated quickly dissolved as she took residence three medals, together with golds within the halfpipe and massive air competitions.
Gu makes her runway debut at Louis Vuitton’s 2023 Cruise present in San Diego, California in Could 2022. Credit score: Jerod Harris/Getty Pictures
“Folks at all times assume that trend and snowboarding are these two fully disparate entities … when in actuality, the core elements are literally very comparable,” she mentioned, talking to CNN sports activities anchor and correspondent Coy Wire forward of this weekend’s Winter X Video games in Aspen, Colorado.
“Each are rooted in a way of self-expression and creativity. Each require plenty of confidence, with the ability to carry out below stress, and with the ability to be your self unapologetically. And I believe that these qualities actually do carry over.”
Not solely do sport, college and trend overlap, they contribute to at least one one other, mentioned Gu, depicting the juggling act as a matter of symbiosis, not compromise. What she learns in psychology applies to snowboarding, which in flip sparks creativity that she carries into trend; modeling in the meantime presents classes in resilience and confidence which are then utilized to her school work — “so all of it goes in a circle,” she mentioned.
Watch: Coy Wire interviews Eileen Gu forward of the Winter X Video games
(Photograph by Patrick Smith/Getty Pictures of Gu competing on the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.)
Hurtling down a halfpipe could have little in frequent with strolling a runway however “all of it’s linked,” the 19-year-old mentioned. Drawn to motion sports activities for the sense that she is “always pushing” her personal boundaries, Gu mentioned snowboarding leaves her feeling “like I am able to something.”
“As a result of if I can push my physique to do a double cork, who says I can not add one other 180 (levels rotation)? Or if you wish to flip it into one other space of my life, who says I can not get a greater rating on the subsequent check, or shoot my dream journal?”
“Magnificence is energy,” she later added. “And wonder is with the ability to be robust, not simply in what your physique seems to be like, but additionally what your physique can do.”
Eileen Gu reacts after her ultimate leap earlier than successful gold in the course of the Ladies’s Freestyle Snowboarding Freeski Huge Air Closing on the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Video games on February 8, 2022. Credit score: Mao Jianjun/China Information Service/Getty Pictures
Model ‘characterised by stability’
“Simply seeing the best way artwork can actually be placed on the physique, and the way expressive it may be in a present. (It is) not simply in regards to the folks carrying the garments and the way they give the impression of being … but additionally in regards to the ambiance, the music, the set — there’s a lot that goes into it.”
She describes her private type, like a lot else in her life, as “characterised by stability” — “between masculine and female, between elegant and sporty, between playful and mature.
“All of these actually are totally different aspects of my life, and relying on the day, I discover trend is an effective way for me to specific how I really feel … I look totally different every single day, even inside a couple of hours. However that is what’s enjoyable about it.”
Gu is signed with IMG Fashions, the company behind Kate Moss, Bella Hadid and extra of trend’s largest names. She has labored with Victoria’s Secret, Tiffany & Co., Swiss watchmaker IWC and cosmetics large Estée Lauder (in addition to quite a lot of manufacturers in China, together with café chain Luckin Espresso, telecoms agency China Cellular and Inside Mongolia’s Mengniu Dairy).
Gu attends the 2022 Met Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Artwork in New York Metropolis. Credit score: Theo Wargo/WireImage/Getty Pictures
“For me, rising up, there weren’t that many women within the ski trade,” she mentioned, including: “I am younger and I am making an attempt to do my greatest, and I simply wish to be the individual that a woman at residence can see on TV or on their telephone and say, ‘Hey, , if she will be able to try this, then I wish to strive it, too. She seems to be like she’s having enjoyable. When can I strive?'”
