'I don't know why I keep doing this': $30 million Chinese megastar laughs off disaster qualification run
Three-time Olympic medallist Eileen Gu has laughed off an early fall in her qualification run for the women's slopestyle, despite the mishap putting her gold medal hopes at risk.
American born Chinese superstar Gu is one of the highest paid female athletes in the world, raking in $30 million over the past year, primarily via endorsements. She is one of the most famous faces competing at Milano Cortina 2026 but the most intimidating skier in the field showed she was human with a clumsy moment in her first run of the day.
Sliding down the hill backwards to set up for a switch 270 on the rail, Gu lost her balance midway through the insanely technical trick and fell face-first onto the slopes.
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Eileen Gu crashes on the first rail during women's slopestyle qualification. Nine
Gu was quick to return to her feet after the fall, fixing her ski boot and suit before making her way to the bottom. On her way down, she trialled several other tricks on the rails to ensure the run wasn't completely wasted.
The Chinese star received a score of 1.26 for that effort but showed her class for the remainder of the qualifying session.
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Eileen Gu returns to her feet after crashing in her opening qualification run. Nine
On her next run Gu responded with a statement score of 75.30.
Only defending slopestyle gold medallist Mathilde Gremaud of Switzerland delivered a stronger run than Gu during qualification, taking out the top spot with a score of 79.15.
Speaking after her day's work, Gu told Nine that she was holding back in qualifying and that Gremaud and all other finalists should not expect to see her deliver the same run when a gold medal is on the line.
"I actually have a completely different run for qualification and the finals," she said.
"In the finals, I'll have a different rail sequence, some pretty different jumps. I'm looking forward to it."
Asked to elaborate further on what fans can expected to see in the finals, Gu was coy.
"I don't want to say too much now. We will wait and see," she concluded.
Eileen Gu in action during the women's freestyle slopestyle qualification. Getty
Reflecting on her time in qualifying, Gu found humour in her early mistake.
"You know, I don't know why I keep doing this at Olympics," she said, laughing.
"This happened in 2022 as well, where I fell on the first run and sometimes even the first two runs, and it just all came down to the last run.
"I don't know why I just can't have it easy and land the first time. But, you know, maybe I just like to keep people on toes. Maybe I like to give a little show.
"Hopefully I am consistent through finals. Qualies day is always a little bit more nerve-racking because you just want to make it to finals. Once you're in, you feel like you can go all in and just let out a breath, calm down and reset for finals day."
The battle between Gremaud and Gu in the final will draw big crowds, with the pair's 2022 gold medal showdown showcasing their insane talent.
Gremaud was the victor in that event, denying Gu a third gold medal at Beijing. Just 0.33 points separated the pair in the final at the last Olympic Games.
The women's slopestyle final will take place on Monday.
