Eileen Gu is the only female athlete to compete in all three freeski disciplines at the Winter Olympics. She is not happy with the schedule of competition because it hinders her ability to train.
The 22-year-old Chinese athlete wants less overlap.
Despite her plea for change, the Olympics are not willing to adjust its plans for only one single athlete. That would set a dangerous precedent for the future.
Eileen Gu has a busy schedule at the Olympics.
Gu is perhaps the biggest name at the Olympics this winter. The American-born skier, who chose to compete for China instead of the United States, reportedly earns more than $20 million in endorsements as an international superstar. And according to the Wall Street Journal, she also received a lucrative paycheck directly from the Chinese government. It is almost as if Gu is used as a political weapon!
But that is neither here nor there… Like her or not, she wins…
Gu already won a silver medal in the slopestyle competition at the Milano-Cortina Games, her worst event. It is also expected that she will defend her gold medal in the halfpipe and big air competitions. A silver medal in either event would disappointing. Bronze or worse would be an epic failure.
With that goal in mind, Eileen Gu will be extremely busy over the next few days.
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.
That creates an issue for the sport’s biggest female star. The training session on Monday overlaps with the big air final so Gu will get only two days of practice for the halfpipe instead of three.
Organizers will not make accommodations.
Because Gu is the only female athlete to compete in all three freestyle ski events, she is the only athlete with this problem. The Olympics do not care.
Eileen Gu reached out to organizers at the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) with a request for assistance because they set the schedule. The Chinese athlete said that her ask was not for special treatment, but for equal opportunity. She wants the same amount of practice as everyone else.
“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.”
Gu offered multiple solutions to her problem, like joining the snowboarders’ training on the halfpipe, but the FIS and the Olympics did not budge. It was not willing to make a change for only one athlete because it would not be fair to the rest.
“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.'”
The two-time Olympic champion said the situation does not make any sense. She is a special case because she is a special athlete.
“I think the Olympics should epitomize aspiration, and I think being able to do something that’s beyond the ordinary should be celebrated instead of punished.”
Gu does not understand why she is at a disadvantage because she is the best at what she does.
“This situation, I think, is really unfair because, for me, the Olympics should represent aspiration and should be all about making dreams come true, doing the impossible. That’s the entire narrative of this contest.
“I feel because I’m the only person, the fact that I made big air finals should not disadvantage me for being the only woman trying to compete in three events. But unfortunately, that is the situation.”
The FIS does not feel sympathy.
“Constructing the Olympic competition program is a complex process requiring extensive cooperation between the IOC and the International Federations representing the thousands of athletes at these Games. Every effort has been made to facilitate the best possible training and competition schedule for athletes across the myriad FIS-governed events, but as we have already seen at these Games, for athletes who choose to compete in multiple disciplines and/or multiple events, conflicts can sometimes be inevitable.”
Too bad, so sad. Eileen Gu will get only two halfpipe training sessions instead of three because she will compete for gold in big air.