When not risking her neck performing acrobatic tips on skis, Eileen Gu likes to strut down runways and pose for journal covers as a mannequin.
So, it was no shock she wore probably the most trendy ski go well with on the Winter Olympics.
Gu certified for the ladies’s slopestyle remaining on Saturday carrying an outfit filled with particulars impressed by her Chinese language heritage and her personal private quirks.
The 22-year-old Gu jumped on the likelihood to speak about her go well with after coming off the course.
Gregory Bull / AP 
“Oh my gosh, I have been ready for this second, match examine!” she mentioned earlier than launching right into a breakdown of her getup.
The American-born Gu competes for China, the place her mom is from. She mentioned she and a fellow Stanford pupil designed her go well with to honor that household background whereas additionally giving a nod to the 2022 Beijing Video games, the place Gu turned a worldwide freeski star when she gained two golds and a silver medal.
The bone white base shade of the go well with, made by her Chinese language sportswear sponsor Anta, mimics Chinese language ceramics – additionally known as “China” — making a backdrop for the blue graphics and pale golden highlights.
Eddie Pells / AP 
A Chinese language-style dragon rears on the sleeve under one other patch of a dragon, trying fierce and a emblem together with her title in daring letters. Her title additionally seems in scrawled graffiti-like lettering underneath a flap close to her neck. That one is roofed by a bib, which, as a result of it is white, does nothing to destroy the look, she mentioned.
“In fact, I had to usher in the dragon component, which was related on the final Olympics as effectively,” she mentioned. “It introduced me energy, it introduced me braveness, it served me effectively, so I wished to maintain that.”
One can be hard-pressed to discover a extra customized go well with, which features a thermometer that modifications shade in line with the temperature.
David Ramos / Getty Photographs 
“I used to be obsessive about temper rings after I was little,” she mentioned. “Like, , you set them on and so they change shade with temperature. And so it is a color-changing thermometer.”
There’s additionally a tiny compass that Gu mentioned was to fulfill her mental facet. (She did enter Stanford a 12 months early after acing the SAT in spite of everything.)
“I simply wished a little bit modular component for my little nerd mind to nerd out on. However in case you get misplaced, I can let you know which method is north,” she mentioned.
However on the finish, it got here again to the game she excels at.
Pointing to a different spot on her go well with, Gu mentioned: “I’ve clouds down right here to signify the sensation of flying, which I really like a lot about freeskiing.”
Patrick Smith / Getty Photographs 
Gu overcame a poor begin by laying down a robust second run to qualify for the ladies’s slopestyle remaining on Saturday. The strain was on the reigning silver medalist after she fell coming off the primary rail of the opening run. However Gu responded by scoring huge on her second likelihood to complete proper behind her high rival.
Slopestyle is a course of rails and jumps that skiers navigate whereas performing acrobatic jumps that judges rating for execution and problem. The freeski and snowboarding occasions at these Olympics are being held in Livigno, tucked within the Italian Alps, hours away from the official host cities of Milan and Cortina.
The highest 12 skiers superior to the ultimate. These included Britain’s Kirsty Muir with the third-best rating, proper in entrance of American Avery Krumme. Italian Maria Gasslitter rounded out the certified skiers to present some additional pleasure to the house followers.
Qualifying for males’s freeski slopestyle is in a while Saturday.
