Eileen Gu broke down into tears after winning her third Olympic gold medal at the Winter Olympics in Italy on Feb. 22—not because of the victory itself, but after learning that her grandmother, Guozhen Feng, had passed away.
While representing the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Gu answered questions at a press conference at the Livigno Snow Park, where she revealed she was told of he grandmothers passing minutes after her win.
Her grandmother was a “big part of [her] life,” Gu said.
“She was a steam ship,” she said, according to the Olympics website, “This woman commanded life, and she grabbed it by the reins, and she made it into what she wanted it to be.”
Gu last saw her grandmother just before departing for the Olympic Games. Recognizing that Feng was already seriously ill, Gu spent that time bracing for the possibility that this was her final goodbye.
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“I didn’t promise her that I was going to win, but I did promise her that I was going to be brave, like she has been brave, and that’s why I keep referring to this theme of betting on myself and being brave and taking risks. It actually goes back to that promise that I made my grandma.
“And so I’m really happy that I was able to uphold that and hopefully do her proud, but it’s also a really difficult time for now,” she added.
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A champion still
Making her grandmother proud in the end, Gu was able to defend her Olympic freeski halfpipe title and add another Olympic gold medal to a grand total of six others — three gold and three silver.
Despite a slow first round start where she scored only 30 points, Gu made a comeback in the second round scoring an astounding 94 points. Finally, her final run saw her score hit an unbeatable 94.75, which secured her a gold medal.
Her teammate, Li Fanghui, followed behind with the silver medal, beating the UK’s Zoe Atkin, who won bronze.
“Every day I was fighting,” Gu said, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP). “I gave my all every single day that I’ve been here, and that’s no joke.
“In all three events I showcased my best skiing and as far as performance goes, that’s all I can ask for — to be able to show the world the best that women’s skiing has to offer at the moment that it really counts.”
Gu previously participated in the Beijing 2022 Olympics, where she won gold in halfpipe and big air, with a silver for slopestyle. Apart from her current gold medal, she won two silver medals for big air and slopestyle.
“I chose to do three events knowing that I had to train half-pipe in two months, knowing that I would miss the half-pipe training in case I made Big Air finals, which I also hadn’t competed in for years,” Gu said according to the Independent.
This year’s victory also gained her one medal ahead of fellow skier Xu Mengtao — who won five medals in women’s aerials — and Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury.
“The reason I love the records so much is that it’s not about man or woman,” she said. “I’m the most decorated freeskier of all time, male or female.”
Even though she was born in the U.S., the 22-year-old chose to participate as an athlete for her mother’s homeland of China. Thus, Gu won China’s fifth gold medal of the Winter Olympics, contributing to an overall total of 15 medals. China also won four silver and six bronze medals.
