If it were easy, everyone would do it. But competing in multiple disciplines is incredibly difficult. Not only do you need to have the skills but you need to have discipline, dedication and enough energy to give it your all every time you drop in. For most, the task proves nearly impossible. For Eileen Gu, it provides a bit of stress relief.
“Being able to switch from one mindset to another keeps it refreshing, fun and it takes the ‘bad’ pressure off of me. I love the ‘good’ pressure,” said Eileen after streetstyle practice on Thursday evening (the night before the superpipe final). “I think it keeps it fun, and I think there is a lot of mutual translation. It’s like playing a bunch of different sports, it makes you genuinely more athletic.”
Impressed? You should be. But if you’re not yet just wait. Eileen’s approach to skiing and keeping things fresh by managing multiple avenues at once is applied equally across her life.
“This translates from a broader extrapolation of my life being fashion, school and skiing,” said Eileen in response to how she keeps calm and evenly keeled while practicing juggling so much. “I literally came from Paris fashion week yesterday. I was at the Louis Vuitton show 36 hours ago and now I am in Dew Tour. In the middle I wrote two essays; one on international law and the other on British culture and history (laughs). With that said, I think my entire life is multifaceted and I’ve always had these different avenues for expression and passions to pursue.”
As wild as this may sound to most, for Eileen it truly is second nature. Looking back to her Dew Tour debut, Eileen came in competing across all disciplines (superpipe, streetstyle and slopestyle) AND she podiumed in each with a 1st place in superpipe. Absolutely unheard of, but, again, for Eileen this is nothing new. She accomplished a similar feat in her debut at X Games earning golds in superpipe and slopestyle in addition to a bronze in big air. Then, at the 2022 Winter Olympics she did it again. Golds in big air and halfpipe plus a silver in slopestyle. Eileen is without a doubt in a league of her own.
Still, she doesn’t take anything for granted and does her best to look inward when gearing up for her next big event.
“I use all the practice time I get, and I didn’t win every pipe contest this year,” said Eileen with a humble smile. “I go into every contest with the desire to win but never the expectation. I’d never say that I am a lock for any kind of medal… With that said; I love competing, I love winning, and I love being on the podium.”
When asked who her biggest competition in pipe is, Eileen responded without hesitation, “me.”
“I’m not super worried about who I am competing against. I always just try to do my own best. Push it a little bit harder. Push it a little bit higher. Do a little bit better than I was yesterday. That’s really all I can ask for. It’s an individual sport.”
Watch Eileen at 4:30pm local time on Saturday Gu will look to improve on her 2021 3rd place podium finish when she competes in the Women’s Ski Streetstyle Qualifier and Final. Then, see is she can defend her 2021 title at 9:00am local time on Sunday, March 10, in the Women’s Ski Superpipe Final. Catch all the Dew Tour 2024 skiing LIVE online at dewtour.com.
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