Olympic freestyle skiing champion Eileen Gu has been injured while training at Cardrona Skifield on New Zealand's South Island. The 21-year-old, who won two gold medals for China at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games, was hurt on 15 August and flown to Christchurch the following day for medical imaging.
In a post on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, Gu described the incident as a "very terrible accident" caused by a man-made factor. She said she was awaiting confirmation from a team of experts before returning to the slopes. No further details of her injury or condition have been released.
Gu, who has 6.7 million Weibo followers, also appealed to fans not to record or photograph her during training, saying she needed to concentrate fully, particularly when preparing to start. She noted that interruptions could be dangerous and that she often skips lunch breaks to save time.
The injury comes shortly after Gu recovered from a shoulder problem that forced her to miss the Asian Winter Games. Born in San Francisco, she switched allegiance to China ahead of the 2022 Olympics and is expected to represent the nation again at the 2026 Winter Games in Milan and Cortina.
Gu was ranked as the second-highest-earning female athlete of 2023 by Forbes, with income of $22.1 million, trailing only tennis star Iga Swiatek.
