Eileen Gu rewrote the history books once again on Sunday at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. The freestyle skiing star dominated the halfpipe competition on her way to her third medal in this year’s Winter Games. Gu also won silver medals in the slopestyle and big air finals earlier in the Olympics.
Gu is now the most decorated Olympian in freestyle skiing history. She entered this year’s Games with three medals under her belt. She is now a six-time medalist in the Games — a feat that has never been achieved by any freestyle skier in history, male or female.
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Gu’s historic moment, however, was accompanied by some heartbreaking news. The Chinese skiing sensation revealed in her press conference that she just learned about her grandmother’s death.
“The last time I saw her before I came to the Olympics, she was very sick so I knew that this was a possibility,” Gu said.
She then went on Instagram to share her painful reaction to the news.
“Because I promised her I would be brave like her 🤍🕊️” she wrote.
Gu shared several photos of herself with her grandma, Feng Guozhen. The first one in the series was both of them flexing as grandma lay in her hospital bed.
In her statement, Gu said that she did not promise her grandmother that she would win in the Olympics. Gu’s commitment was to be brave.
Not only did the freestyle skiing icon compete with courage throughout the Olympics, but she also won every single competition she entered.
Related: U.S. Skier Mikaela Shiffrin Reacts to Eileen Gu Development at Winter Olympics