Eileen Gu on chasing 2026 Winter Olympics gold, her love for Brad Pitt’s new F1 film
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Eileen Gu said she was quickly discovering that her second Winter Olympics was going to be tougher than the first, with most of the pressure to succeed coming from within.
The Beijing double gold medallist will represent China again next year, and has a rich history to live up to at the Milano Cortina Games.
In 2022, the 21-year-old became the first freestyle skier to win three medals at a single Olympics: gold in big air and half-pipe, and silver in slopestyle.
“I’m very much looking forward to the Winter Olympics in Milan, and doing something for the second time is a lot harder than doing it for the first – that’s what I’m learning,” Gu said, during an appearance at the Watches and Wonders Exhibition in Geneva.
“And so, I’m taking it day by day and really focusing on my mental [side], and how I deal with pressure and how I learn from pressure. It’s not even from the outside world, but from myself.”
Asked what sort of mark she hoped to leave behind from her career, Gu said “a golden one”, adding that any moment at an Olympics “was one of legacy”.