Eileen Gu wins emotional halfpipe gold medal in Livigno Italy before revealing heartbreaking news of her grandmother’s death at the Winter Olympics

When Eileen Gu dropped into the halfpipe in Livigno on Sunday, she looked every bit the composed champion.

Minutes later, with Olympic gold secured, her world shifted.

The 22-year-old arrived late to her press conference, visibly emotional. That’s when she shared the reason.

In the narrow window between celebrating victory and facing reporters, she had been told her grandmother had passed away.

It was the kind of contrast only elite sport can deliver — the highest high colliding with the deepest personal loss.

A Promise Made Before the Games

Gu explained that her grandmother, Feng Guozhen, had been gravely ill when she last saw her before leaving for the Olympics.

The possibility of loss was there, unspoken but understood.

She didn’t promise a medal. Instead, she promised bravery.

And in her words, that promise shaped everything.

Gu described her grandmother as a fighter — someone who didn’t drift through life but steered it with force and purpose.

The skier even carries her grandmother’s name as her middle name, Feng, a reminder of the bond they shared.

Winning gold, she said, was about living up to that vow to be courageous, to bet on herself, to take risks even when the stakes were enormous.

Six Medals, One Legacy

With that halfpipe victory, Gu added another chapter to what is already one of the most remarkable Olympic résumés in freestyle skiing.

She now owns six Olympic medals across two Winter Games.

Her latest gold, combined with two silvers from these Games in slopestyle and big air, adds to the two golds she captured at Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

In total, she has medalled in all six Olympic events she has entered in her career.

That consistency, across disciplines and across Games, places her at the very top of her sport — male or female.

Gu herself called it surreal. To walk away as the most decorated freestyle skier in history at just 22 is something few athletes even dare imagine.

The Marathon at Sprint Speed

Competing in three events at one Olympics is no small undertaking.

Gu described it as running a marathon at the pace of a 100-meter dash.

Every day mattered. There were no easy mornings, no light training sessions.

She had to juggle halfpipe preparation while risking missed training time if she advanced in big air — an event she hadn’t competed in for four years before this season.

The schedule meant six competitions in total.

Six times standing at the top, knowing a single mistake could undo months of work.

Trusting herself, she said, was the biggest gamble of all.

The Backlash That Never Quite Fades

Even as she dominates on snow, Gu continues to face criticism off it.

Born and raised in San Francisco, and having learned to ski in Lake Tahoe, she represented the United States until she was 15.

Then she switched allegiance to China, the country of her mother’s birth.

The move ignited fierce debate ahead of the Beijing Games and hasn’t truly quieted since.

Some American fans accused her of chasing sponsorship money, particularly given her enormous commercial appeal in China.

Over the past year, Gu reportedly earned around $23 million — a staggering figure for any athlete, let alone a winter sports competitor.

Yet only a tiny fraction of that income came directly from competition prize money.

She has repeatedly denied that money drove her decision.

In interviews, including with Time magazine, she said her motivation was representation — bringing freestyle skiing to a wider audience in China, especially young girls.

“The US already has the representation,” she explained. “I like building my own pond.”

Balancing Stanford and Stardom

Away from the slopes, Gu is also a student at Stanford University, where she studies while maintaining one of the most demanding competition schedules in winter sport.

Balancing elite training, global sponsorship obligations and Ivy League academics is no small feat.

It adds another layer to her public image — not just a champion athlete, but a cultural bridge between two superpowers.

That dual identity, however, continues to draw political commentary.

Even high-profile American politicians have weighed in, underscoring how her personal decision has become a talking point far beyond sport.

A Difficult Games Behind the Smile

These Olympics have not been smooth sailing.

The two silver medals earlier in the week were strong performances by any standard, yet they were inevitably compared to her two golds in Beijing.

For an athlete accustomed to winning, even excellence can feel like scrutiny.

And now, layered on top of competitive pressure and public debate, is personal grief.

Her grandmother’s passing casts the gold medal in a different light — no longer just a sporting triumph, but a tribute.

What’s Next?

Gu will soon return to Stanford to continue her studies, but there is little doubt she will remain one of the most marketable and scrutinized athletes in winter sport.

On the snow, she is expected to continue competing in multiple disciplines, potentially targeting world championships and the next Winter Olympics.

Off it, she is likely to remain a global ambassador for skiing and a lightning rod for debate about nationality, identity and commercial sport.

In the immediate future, though, the focus is simpler.

Time with family. Time to grieve. Time to process a victory that arrived hand in hand with loss.

For all her medals and records, this is a moment that transcends sport.

Summary

Eileen Gu won Olympic halfpipe gold in Livigno before learning that her grandmother had passed away.

The 22-year-old said she had promised to be brave like her grandmother, a vow that shaped her performance.

With six Olympic medals across two Games, including two golds at Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, Gu has become the most decorated freestyle skier in history.

Despite ongoing criticism over her decision to represent China rather than the United States, the Stanford student insists her choice was about inspiration, not money.