Triple Olympic medalist Eileen Gu is no stranger to making history early.
At age 18, she became the youngest-ever freestyle women’s skiing champion during the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. The next year, Gu became the world’s second-best compensated female athlete behind only Polish tennis superstar Iga Swiatek, with earnings of $22.1 million, per Forbes.
Now, the 21-year-old Stanford physics major has achieved another major milestone early: she’s gracing the legendary pages of Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Issue.
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“Free skiing is a very male-dominated sport. I think the first time that I had girls on my team, I was around 14 or 15 […] so I definitely felt as though I stuck out a little bit,” Gu told Bailey Colon of Sports Illustrated.
Photographer Ben Horton captured Gu, donning swimwear by Always on Holiday, at Florida’s The Boca Raton.
“I think [I] was definitely trying to mask myself and trying to fit in and be more accepted,” Gu said. “I wanted to look like the other people in the industry, and for the most part, those were boys. So, I think reconciling with my femininity—particularly when I turned 14,15 and started working in fashion more—was a pivotal step of my development.”
Fans can take a look at Gu’s full gallery of stills for the iconic shoot here.
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Skiing for her mother’s native China, the San Francisco-born Gu claimed gold medals in the big air and halfpipe events, plus a silver medal in slopestyle. She made Time Magazine’s list of the world’s 100 most influential people in 2022.
In Jan. of 2024, Gu announced her intention to compete for China again at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, per Eddie Pells of The Associated Press.
“The progression of women’s skiing has just been skyrocketing in the last, you know, five years, 10 years, and it has been so inspiring to first watch it when I was younger and then now be a part of it,” Gu said. “It has made me really… introspective in thinking about what is the legacy that I want to contribute to this sport.”
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