Yes! She does it again. 18 year old Gu Ailing/Eileen Gu has bagged a second Gold Medal in the Women’s Freestyle skiing Half-pipe event yesterday. She won her first Gold Medal early on in the Games in the Big Air event and won a Silver Medal in the Slopestyle event – so she almost clean swept the Gold Medals in the freestyle skiing.
Now she is the “Golden Girl” on Chinese social media and a Chinese sensation who is worth millions of dollars in endorsements and in her other career as a model – yes she is very talented and only 18 years old!
After her Silver Medal win in the Slopestyle event, she told Reuters that her grandmother is a “fiercely confident woman” who is always happy. And:
“She’s never watched me compete. I don’t think she’s ever watched me ski. She’s going to be unfazed and unimpressed I think.”
She also mentions that her grandmother prefers her to be a doctor or a lawyer- we are sure many of us Asians understand this experience!
According to CNN, Gu’s grandmother flew to Beijing to watch her compete for the first time and what an event to see with Gu winning her second Gold Medal.
Here is what Gu said at a post event press conference after winning her 2nd Gold and 3rd Olympic Medal for China (via ABC News):
“I’ve never taken a victory lap before in my entire life, so I felt like, ‘You know what, last event at the Olympics, it feels like I finally deserve it’,”
“I’m really happy.”
“I never take anything for granted, in terms of competition. There are so many amazing, talented women in this field.
“At the top [of my run] I said, ‘My name is Eileen Gu, and I’m the best half-pipe freeskier in the world’,” she said, starting to cry.
“I said that three times. And then I said, ‘I’m really grateful to be here. I can’t believe this is real. I love skiing so much. And I love you all’.”
Congrats champ!
Images via Weibo