Eileen Gu celebrates her first day at Stanford University in California
- Double Olympic gold medallist begins her undergraduate degree at prestigious school, after deferring entry to focus on Beijing Winter Games
- Gu recently thanked fans for their support during ‘most challenging year’ as she faced ‘hardest setbacks, moments of doubt and immense pressure’
Most people spend their gap year travelling, or working to save money. Eileen Gu, of course, was busy winning three Olympic medals for China at the 2022 Beijing Games.
But now the 19-year-old freestyle skier is hitting the books as well as the slopes, and has officially begun life at the prestigious Stanford University in her native California, where she had deferred entry into the Class of 2022.
“Day one,” Gu wrote in an Instagram post, alongside pictures from her welcoming ceremony with her mother Yan Gu, and her grandmother.
Born and raised in San Francisco to an American father and Chinese mother, Gu drew international attention when she opted to represent China for its first home Winter Olympics, where she became a breakout star with gold in the big air and half-pipe events, and silver in the slopestyle.
The part-time model has found instant fame and fortune, gaining millions of followers on social media – and millions of dollars in endorsement deals – but she has kept her commitment to pursuing a degree at the famed school, where she is believed to be leaning towards majoring in international relations.
She said her decision showed the “beauty of globalisation”, adding that she had the backing of “incredibly supportive” China. Indeed, more than 220 million Chinese fans flocked to Weibo to voice their support for Gu’s decision, with many describing her as a “powerful” female role model and ambassador.
