Eileen Gu, an Olympic Skier and Model
Fri. 3 May, 2024 19:00
Twenty-year-old Eileen Gu is an Olympic freestyle skier, high fashion model, and a Stanford student.
Besides growing up in San Francisco, CA, Gu spent many summers in Beijing, China with her mother and extended family. Eileen chose to represent China in competitive skiing, which is a factor that led to Americans questioning her integrity in America.
It’s a topic Eileen has not shied away from in press conferences. She has responded positively, saying she is both Chinese and American and represents all girls in competitive freestyle skiing. Eileen is a role model for young girls to look up to as she has paved a new path by proving to the world how a girl can do it all.
Gu has proved that a woman can be a leader, a fashionista, and academically gifted. A girl can have all of these altruistic traits, additionally being charismatic, funny, entertaining, and relatable.
Eileen Gu changed the world by being amazing at her sport, an inquisitive Ivy League student, a motivational speaker, and a model/ambassador of luxury fashion brands.
As an 18-year-old, she won 3 Olympic gold medals at her first Olympics in 2022.
Eileen competed at XGames Aspen 2024 in January and has 4 XGames medals from two separate XGames competitions.
She won 1 gold medal at XGames Aspen 2024 for Ski Superpipe.
Eileen is multilingual, played piano as a child, is the face of innumerable fashion brands, and is a shining beacon of hope for the international ski community.
She is an outspoken advocate for uniting people against racism and encouraging young girls to pursue competitive skiing. Eileen chose to represent China in international competitions to stick with racial loyalty and to stay with her team of coaches, staff, etc.
Her Instagram has over 2 million followers, and she was one of the highest-paid athletes of the year (Net Worth: $22.1 m.) Her career is just at the beginning.
Eileen is a notable woman who has already impacted the world with her achievements. She is internationally recognized as a modern pioneer of women’s freestyle skiing. She has made history. She is redefining what success looks like.
Eileen Gu represents the iconic turning point in how society perceives women.
Why is society so quick to judge a successful young woman? A woman can be the epitome of beauty, charm, and intellect, yet she will still receive extreme scrutiny from people with fewer achievements.
Is jealousy enough reason to shove successful women down the drain? People will always talk, but the media owes a responsibility to the public to write news without ill intentions.
Fame does not equate to accepting unsolicited, unconstructive criticism from strangers on the Internet.
Every successful woman is critiqued on their looks, personality, voice, and people choose to shine the attention away from the woman’s accomplishments.
The media frenzy around negative topics, to bring down female celebrities is deeply rooted in internalized misogyny.
Eileen Gu is a brilliant superstar who has accomplished so much at a young age. She genuinely makes an effort to engage with her fans, to encourage girls to follow their dreams of competitive skiing, and to connect with the international ski community.
She doesn’t deserve the mistreatment of certain preconceived notions about the controversy of her representing China in ski competitions. She is a notable individual with insurmountable success. She is not a scapegoat for uncivilized people to take out their anger towards. Eileen has created a positive impact on society.
