Eileen Gu is the only free ski athlete competing in all three disciplines: big air, slopestyle and halfpipe.
Gu called the competition schedule ‘unfair’ after advancing to the big air finals prevented her from attending a halfpipe practice session.
The International Ski Federation (FIS) denied her requests for an alternate training time.
LIVIGNO, Italy – Normally, China’s Eileen Gu said, the International Ski Federation (FIS) – the governing body that oversees Olympic free skiing and snowboarding (among other disciplines) – is an accommodating organization.
Except in this case.
As Gu looks to repeat as the Olympic gold-medalist in the women’s big air event (finals are Monday, Feb. 16, at 1:30 p.m. ET) and go 5-for-5 in medals at her second Olympics, she is a tad perturbed by the schedule that only she has to confront.
Making big air finals prevented Gu from practicing during the allotted three-hour training session allowed for free skiers in the halfpipe on the other side of Livigno Snow Park.
‘Which is really unfair, and difficult for me to deal with,’ Gu said after qualifying Saturday.
Gu petitioned to train with snowboarders during their training last week, or to at least have an extra hour at another time. No dice, though.
FIS’ response and reasoning didn’t make sense to her. Generally, Gu said, FIS is accommodating and takes care of the athletes. Gu is the lone athlete – man or woman – to compete in all three disciplines; typically, halfpipe athletes specialize in that event, while those who compete in big air also do slopestyle.
‘This situation, I think, is really unfair,’ Gu said. ‘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. So I feel, because I’m the only person – the fact that I made big air finals for being the only person, only woman trying to compete in three events.’
Gu won gold in the halfpipe as the Beijing Games and said it is her favorite event. She took silver in slopestyle in back-to-back Olympics and has the chance to defend her big air title Monday night.
The American-born Gu, a Stanford student, said she was proud to make big air finals despite taking a break from the event since the last Olympics. She wanted to at least try and prove something to herself.
‘Sometimes I think that young women, particularly, are scared of failure before they can actually fail,’ the 22-year-old said. ‘So for me, I wanted to overcome a fear of failure just by trying. I just wanted to step up there and say, ‘Hey I haven’t competed in four years, I just want to try’ – as the defending Olympic gold-medalist.’
Gu qualified for big air finals by landing her first and third tricks despite not competing in the event in nearly four years, since she won it in China during the 2022 Beijing Games when she became a sensation in China and launched a personal brand that netted her more than $20 million last year, making her one of the biggest-earning female athletes in the world.