Editor’s Note:
The Beijing Winter Olympics are set to kick off on February 4. Global Times has picked some of the biggest names to keep an eye on.
There is a lot of pressure on the young shoulders of Chinese free skier Gu Ailing at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. The 18-year-old is set to be the face of the Games that she enters as favorite for golds in three events – big air, slopestyle and half-pipe.
Gu, who was born in the US to an American father and Chinese mother, decided to compete for China in 2019 and she has soared to the top of her sport since, busting on to the international scene with a star performance at the Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne in 2020.
Last year Gu – who is also known as Eileen – had a breakout year. She was crowned world champion for the first time, which also came in the same 12 months that she won her first X-Games medals, taking multiple golds at the X Games Aspen 2021 and at the Freeski World Championships.
She has not let up in the new season. Despite injuries Gu has shown that she is pushing to the limit and she became the first woman to land a right double cork 1440 in competition as she took gold in Steamboat, Colorado.
She won four in four half-pipe events in the FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup, with the most recent coming at Mammoth Mountain in her home state of California last weekend.
Gu Ailing of China competes in the Women’s Freeski Slopestyle Final at the US Grand Prix at Mammoth Mountain on January 9, 2022 in Mammoth, California. Photo: VCG
Gu thought that included some of her best skiing yet, evidenced by a career-best 97.5 points in one run.
“I am absolutely blown away,” Gu said after topping the podium. “That’s the highest score I’ve ever gotten. I’m so happy to put a run down today, I think that was probably one of the best runs I’ve done in half-pipe.”
She also won the first crystal globe of her nascent career.
“So unbelievably hyped to end the half-pipe World Cup undefeated and with my first crystal globe,” Gu said. “Feeling really proud to have landed probably my best contest run ever during my second run.”
The hope is that the teenager can take that form onto the slopes in Beijing and that she will follow in the footsteps of Han Xiaopeng, the only Chinese snow sports Olympic gold medalist. Han won the freestyle aerials gold at the Turin 2006 Winter Games and if Gu wins another – never mind a trio – then her star will rise inexorably.
She has already graced the cover of a number of Chinese high fashion magazines and signed several high-profile sponsorships but success will bring only more for the teen who is headed to Stanford for college.
A solid performance in Beijing could cement her status in skiing and beyond, while helping her achieve her dream of inspiring young girls.
