Oscar Holland, CNN Interview by Coy Wire, CNN
If Eileen Gu’s account of final Saturday’s Freestyle Ski World Cup occasion in Calgary is something to go by, a day within the lifetime of the Olympian is as different as it’s busy: She took first place within the morning qualifiers , wrote two essays, learn some René Descartes and George Berkeley for a philosophy class, after which “did some physics” earlier than getting again on observe for the ultimate.
“I received that, I got here again,” she continued, casually reviewing her first competitors look since final yr’s Winter Olympics, “I went over my essay…turned it in, canceled at 10pm and went to sleep. In order that was a type of days.”
Presently final yr, the American-born Gu was lower than two weeks away from making her Olympic debut in Beijing, representing China, the nation of her mom’s beginning. As one of the crucial sponsored athletes on the Video games, she was already a recognizable face. However few exterior of the ski world had seen it in motion. Any suggestion that her talents had been exaggerated was quickly dispelled as she took residence three medals, together with gold medals in halfpipe and massive air competitions.
Inside 12 months, Gu enrolled as a scholar at Stanford College and was named amongst Time Journal’s 100 Most Influential Folks. She has additionally bolstered her status as a extremely wanted mannequin. In Could, she made her runway debut for Louis Vuitton, carrying a midriff-baring outfit from the model’s Cruise 2023 assortment, and has graced the covers of Vogue Hong Kong and the Singapore version of Harper’s Bazaar in current months.
“Folks all the time assume that vogue and snowboarding are these two utterly disparate entities … when in actuality, the core points are very comparable,” he mentioned, chatting with CNN correspondent and sportscaster Coy Wire earlier than the Winter X Video games this weekend in Aspen. Colorado.
“Each are rooted in a way of self-expression and creativity. Each require a variety of confidence, having the ability to carry out underneath stress and having the ability to be your self unapologetically. And I feel these qualities actually come throughout.”
Sport, college and vogue not solely overlap however contribute to one another, Gu mentioned, describing the juggling act as a matter of symbiosis, not compromise. What he learns in psychology is utilized to snowboarding, which in flip sparks creativity that results in vogue; In the meantime, modeling provides classes in resilience and confidence which are then utilized to her school work, “so all of it goes in a circle,” she mentioned.
Diving down a half pipe might have little in frequent with strolling down a observe, however “every thing is related,” mentioned the 19-year-old. Drawn to motion sports activities by the sensation that she is “always pushing” her personal limits, Gu mentioned that snowboarding makes her really feel “like she is able to something.”
“As a result of if I can push my physique to do a double cork, who says I can not add one other 180 (diploma rotation)? Or if you wish to swap it to a different space of my life, who says I can not rating higher on the following take a look at or shoot my dream journal?
“Magnificence is energy,” she added later. “And wonder is having the ability to be robust, not simply in how your physique seems, but in addition in what your physique can do.”
Type ‘characterised by stability’
The California-raised athlete, whose choice to signify China drew criticism from some quarters within the US, has all the time been eager about vogue. Having “stole little items” from her mom’s wardrobe when she was a toddler, Ella Gu she attended her first vogue week in Paris at age 15. The expertise was, she mentioned, “completely life altering.”
“Simply seeing the way in which artwork can actually be placed on the physique and the way expressive it may be in a present. (It is about) not simply the individuals carrying the garments and the way they appear… but in addition the ambiance, the music, the setting, there’s so much concerned.”
He describes his private model, like many different issues in his life, as “characterised by stability”: “between masculine and female, between elegant and sporty, between playful and mature.
“These are all actually totally different aspects of my life, and relying on the day, I discover vogue to be a good way to specific how I really feel… I look totally different on daily basis, even in only a few hours. However that is what’s enjoyable about it.”
Gu signed with IMG Fashions, the company behind Kate Moss, Bella Hadid and extra of the most important names in vogue. She has labored with Victoria’s Secret, Tiffany & Co., Swiss watchmaker IWC, and cosmetics large Estée Lauder (in addition to quite a lot of manufacturers in China, together with espresso store chain Luckin Espresso, telecommunications firm China Cell, and Mengniu Internal Mongolia Dairy).
These offers helped set up Gu because the world’s third-highest-paid feminine athlete final yr, in response to Forbes, which estimated her 2022 earnings at greater than $20 million. She additionally hopes that her visibility could make her a task mannequin for younger women and aspiring athletes, the sort she mentioned she lacked when she was younger.
“For me, rising up, there weren’t a variety of women within the ski business,” she mentioned, including: “I am younger and I am making an attempt to do the most effective I can, and I simply wish to be the individual that a woman at residence can see. on TV or on her telephone and say, ‘Hey, you already know, if she will be able to try this, then I wish to strive that too. She seems like she is having enjoyable. When can I strive?’”
The CNN Wire
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