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 assorted 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 12 months, 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 talents had been overstated quickly dissolved as she took dwelling three medals, together with golds within the halfpipe and large air competitions.
Gu makes her runway debut at Louis Vuitton’s 2023 Cruise present in San Diego, California in Might 2022. Credit score: Jerod Harris/Getty Pictures
“Individuals at all times assume that trend and snowboarding are these two utterly disparate entities … when in actuality, the core elements are literally very related,” she stated, chatting with 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 loads of confidence, with the ability to carry out underneath stress, and with the ability to be your self unapologetically. And I feel that these qualities actually do carry over.”
Not solely do sport, faculty and trend overlap, they contribute to at least one one other, stated 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 might be then utilized to her faculty work — “so all of it goes in a circle,” she stated.
Watch: Coy Wire interviews Eileen Gu forward of the Winter X Video games
(Picture by Patrick Smith/Getty Pictures of Gu competing on the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.)
Hurtling down a halfpipe might have little in widespread with strolling a runway however “all of it’s linked,” the 19-year-old stated. Drawn to motion sports activities for the sense that she is “continually pushing” her personal boundaries, Gu stated 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 following check, or shoot my dream journal?”
“Magnificence is energy,” she later added. “And sweetness is with the ability to be robust, not simply in what your physique seems to be like, but in addition what your physique can do.”
Eileen Gu reacts after her last bounce earlier than profitable gold through the Girls’s Freestyle Snowboarding Freeski Massive Air Ultimate on the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Video games on February 8, 2022. Credit score: Mao Jianjun/China Information Service/Getty Pictures
Type ‘characterised by stability’
“Simply seeing the best way artwork can really be placed on the physique, and the way expressive it may be in a present. (It is) not simply in regards to the individuals sporting the garments and the way they appear … but in addition in regards to the ambiance, the music, the set — there’s a lot that goes into it.”
She describes her private fashion, 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 completely different aspects of my life, and relying on the day, I discover trend is a good way for me to specific how I really feel … I look completely different day-after-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 a wide range of manufacturers in China, together with café chain Luckin Espresso, telecoms agency China Cell 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 ladies within the ski business,” she stated, including: “I am younger and I am making an attempt to do my greatest, and I simply wish to be the individual that a lady at dwelling can see on TV or on their telephone and say, ‘Hey, you already know, if she will do this, then I wish to attempt it, too. She seems to be like she’s having enjoyable. When can I attempt?'”
