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Eileen Gu Reveals the Victory Mindset Guiding Her Through Milan Cortina Games

The athlete, who is the most decorated women’s freestyle skiing Olympian in history, will compete in her final event today.

Cara O’Bleness

Eileen Gu
Eileen Gu / Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images

As Eileen Gu gears up for the qualifying run in her final event at the Milan Cortina Games today, it would only be natural to feel some nerves. However, in a new Vogue article published yesterday, Feb. 18, the 22-year-old freestyle skier opened up about her refreshing mindset where competition is concerned.

“Many people in the finals of an event can win it,” Gu, who competes for the People’s Republic of China, told the outlet. “But the people who stay on the podium, there’s a reason for that. I try to keep this in the back of my mind: nervous energy and excitement are the same biochemical in your brain. You just have to tell yourself which one it is.”

Clearly, Gu’s mindset is one that works. Earlier this week, she became the most decorated women’s freestyle skiing Olympian in history with five medals to date. Gu secured two golds and a silver during the 2022 Beijing Games, followed by two more silvers in this year’s competition for Big Air and Slopestyle events.

When she shared the interview to Instagram yesterday, plenty of Gu’s 2.6 million followers piped into the comments section with praise for the multihyphenate.

“😍😍😍OMG!!! Sooo beautiful!!😻 Different arenas, same excellence. Always evolving.🔥👏😘,” one person wrote.

“you do it all 🔥🔥 proud is an understatement,” someone else added.

“Watching you redefine what it means to be multidimensional is so inspiring. Sport meets couture in the most iconic way❤️,” another fan noted.

In addition to being an elite-level athlete, Gu is also a student at Standford University (where she is majoring in international relations) and has made her mark in the fashion and media world. She’s landed on covers of publications like TIME, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and InStyle.

Of the ability to balance her many priorities, Gu told Vogue, “When I’m on set, in my fashion headspace, my body is recovering from training. When I’m at school, my mind is working and my body is recovering. When I’m skiing, maybe my mind is recovering. I kind of use each one as rest from the other. I think of it almost like background tasks running—something on your computer that’s always going. That’s kind of how it feels, so I’m always doing something productive.”

Today’s qualifying run, which starts at 1:30 p.m. ET, is in the women’s halfpipe, for which Gu took home gold in 2022. The final will follow on Saturday, Feb. 21. Find the full schedule here.

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Cara O’Bleness
CARA O’BLENESS

Cara is a trending news writer/editor for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit. A passionate writer and editor with more than 10 years of experience in print and online media, she loves storytelling and believes that words have the power to change the world. Prior to joining the team, Cara worked as a writer and editor across a number of content verticals, including food, lifestyle, health and wellness, and small business and entrepreneurship. In her free time, Cara loves reading, spending time with her family and making her way through Michigan’s many microbreweries. She is a graduate of Michigan State University's School of Journalism.

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