Eileen Gu Causes Stir in Custom Olympic Ski Fit With Chinese Details for Event

Eileen Gu is used to turning heads as a professional model. She made sure her custom ski fit for her first event of the Milano Cortina Games did the same.

The 22-year-old Gu, or Gu Ailing by her Chinese name, made history at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics at just 18, becoming the youngest Olympic champion in freestyle skiing while earning gold medals in big air and halfpipe, along with a silver in slopestyle.

The American-born Stanford student controversially competes for China, however, to honor her mom’s heritage and “build her own pond” as she’s said vs. being on a competitive USA Ski team.

When she’s not skiing, she’s a super successful professional model with over 20 brand endorsements, making her the highest-paid athlete of the Winter Olympcics (see above related link for how much she makes).

Gu overcomes fall in first event in her 2026 Winter Games

Her Olympics started out bumpy with a fall, but she overcame that on Saturday to make the Slopestyle final.

After a fall on her first run, Eileen Gu came up clutch on her second with a 75.30 to advance to the women's Slopestyle final. 👏#WinterOlympics pic.twitter.com/NtLqkjko3Q
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 7, 2026

“Fit check” reveals awesome custom details

While that’s a good story, the ski fit she wore for the event is even better with a combination of Chinese tradition and modern innovation.

After competing, she talked about how excited she was to wear it: “Oh my gosh, I’ve been waiting for this moment, fit check!”

Eileen Gu’s Olympic outfit combines Chinese tradition with modern innovation, reflecting her heritage and personal influences. 🇨🇳✨

She overcame a poor first round to qualify for the slopestyle final, showcasing determination and technical skill. 🏅💪 pic.twitter.com/YVKLJeCnZH
— unumihai Media (@unumihaimedia) February 7, 2026

According to the Oskaloosa Herald, here are the details:

”The bone white base color of the suit, made by her Chinese sportswear sponsor Anta, mimics Chinese ceramics — also called “China” — creating a backdrop for the blue graphics and pale golden highlights.

A Chinese-style dragon rears on the sleeve below another patch of a dragon looking fierce and a logo with her name in bold letters. Her name also appears in scrawled graffiti-like lettering under a flap near her neck. That one is covered by a bib, which, because it's white, does nothing to ruin the look. she said.”

Here’s another view of it:

La star Eileen Gu 🇨🇳 chute dès le début de son premier run en qualif du Slopestyle ! #MilanoCortina pic.twitter.com/bNU5ITvoaa
— Wa!id (@MW_A) February 7, 2026

“Of course, I had to bring in the dragon element which was relevant at the last Olympics as well,” she added. “It brought me strength, it brought me courage, it served me well, so I wanted to keep that.”

She certainly is the dragon to slay in the freestyle skiing world.

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