Eileen Gu recently responded to one of the reporters questioning her about her two silver medals at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Her viral answer recently garnered the attention of the former athletes Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird, who shared their reaction to the skier’s response.
Gu had an incredible run at her Milan-Cortina Games, where she won a gold medal and two silver medals. She won the two silver medals in the slope style and big air events and then went on to win her gold medal in the freeski halfpipe event, defending her title. Following her victory, she sat for a press conference, where a journalist asked her if she saw her two silver medals as two gold opportunities lost. Replying to this, Gu said:
“Doing it five times is exponentially harder because every medal is equally hard for me, but everybody else’s expectations rise, right? And so, the two medals lost situation, to be quite frank with you, I think is kind of a ridiculous perspective to take.”
The response quickly went viral online, and most recently, it captured the couple Rapinoe and Bird’s attention. They discussed the skier’s answer in their podcast, ‘A Touch More with Sue Bird & Megan Rapinoe’s’ new episode. Lauding her for the answer, they said: (19:28 onwards)
“Tough. That was tough. I mean, she’s 22 years old. And that might be the best answer I’ve ever heard to a question like that. Cuz even as I heard the reporter ask it in my head, I was like, “Oh, yeah. I guess it would be disappointing. You’re supposed to win the gold medal, so like, what would my answer be? And then you listen to her, and I’m like, “Perfect, perfect response.” Perfect response,” said Sue Bird.
She added:
“Especially the part and we can both relate to winning the gold medal is just as hard for her every time. But the more you win, the expectations rise. Mhm. And that right there, like that relationship and balance, is as you go through a career what makes things so challenging, and that’s where it gets messy. And she just had incredible perspective.”
Rapinoe further said:
“I love what she said like in essence, she’s like, “I’m doing my best.” It’s amazing.”
What did Eileen Gu say after winning a gold medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics?
Eileen Gu stunned the audience and her fans with her blistering performance in the freeski halfpipe event. She flawlessly defended her title by securing 94.75 points following her final run and besting Li Fanghui and Zoe Atkin, who claimed the second and third positions, respectively.
With this win, she became the most decorated freeski athlete, as her Olympic medal tally increased to six. Opening up about this journey, she called it a special feeling and
said:
“I can’t put it into words. It’s such a special feeling for me. I grew up in a male-dominated sport. I was the only girl on my ski team until I was 15 years old, and so today to stand here before you and be able to say that I am the most gold medal-holding freeski athlete ever, male or female, and most decorated freeski athlete, male or female, is pretty surreal,” Eileen Gu said.
Things took a different turn for Gu after the gold medal celebrations, as her grandmother passed away during this special moment. She
broke into tears while sharing the heartbreaking news during the press conference.
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