Eileen Gu Will Not Accept ‘Gold Medal Losses’ While Overcoming Unheard Olympic Adversity

Eileen Gu is one of the most popular and polarizing figures at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. The American-born skier representing Team China has medaled twice thus far.

She was asked about those second-place finishes during a recent meeting with the media. She clapped back at a reporter that downplayed the feats.

In 2022, Gu won two golds and a silver in freestyle events in Beijing. This year, she’d hoped to repeat.

She was slated to compete in three more freeski sessions. The first two have now come and gone, with Gu earning silver in both the Slopestyle and Big Air.

Eileen Gu does not accept “gold medal losses”

After completing her first two events, a reporter asked her for perspective on the silver medal finishes. It landed a strong response that’s since gone viral on social media.

“Do you see these as two silvers gained or two golds lost?” the journalist asked during a question-and-answer session.

Gu shut down the suggestion that gold is the only option when competing against the best in the world.

The question is legitimate. The reporter wanted to get a feel for her outlook. Was she dejected after missing out on gold? Could a possible letdown carry over into her final event?

Gu did not accept the insinuation. Silver medals are nothing to scoff at. Five first or second place finishes in her last five Olympic events is an accomplishment that most will never achieve.

“The two (gold) medals lost situation, to be quite frank with you, I think is kind of a ridiculous perspective to take,” she said.

There’s that.

With her first two events now behind her, she looks ahead to the halfpipe. She will have to overcome some adversity as it pertains to the schedule.

The Olympics would not accommodate.

Although the big air and halfpipe competitions do not directly overlap, there is a lot of crossover with scheduled training sessions and time to prepare. Gu will not be able to practice for the halfpipe event on Monday because of the big air final.

Halfpipe participants have three opportunities to practice. They each get three three-hour training sessions on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday before the official qualification round on Thursday. One per day, at the same time.

-BroBible

Eileen Gu will have less practice time than her halfpipe competitors. The Big Air final was held on the same day as the first halfpipe training session.

Gu is the only female athlete competing in all three freestyle events. She made a complaint to the Olympics, which went unheard.

The organizers refused to adjust the schedule to allow her to best maximize practice time between competition.

“The halfpipe training actually completely overlaps with big air finals. If I make finals, it means I’m missing out on a full three-hour session of halfpipe training, which is really unfair and difficult for me to deal with.

“I thought, ‘Maybe I can train with the snowboarders, maybe I can get an extra hour somewhere and make this fair.’ But unfortunately, no dice […] They just said no. They were like, ‘This is not possible to do.'”

-Eileen Gu

Gu hopes to overcome the training disadvantage to earn a third medal. Another “gold medal loss” will not be viewed as a negative should it result in silver or bronze.