What to Know
You don’t get to be the most decorated female freestyle skier in the history of the Olympics, with five medals total over the course of her Olympic career, without getting some annoying questions from reporters. Except, in Eileen Gu‘s case, when she answered a reporter following her freestyle event at the 2026 Winter Olympics, she clapped back with the perfect response.
Really, you can’t even fault Eileen for giving a slightly sarcastic and super self-assured answer when a reporter asked about her silver medals she won after she failed to secure gold medals. I mean, placing at all is a feat in itself. And, she reminded the reporter, she is still an icon in the Olympics. Did she actually say the word “icon”? No, but you know she wanted to.
@yahoosports Eileen Gu was not feeling this reporter's question 🙅♀️ #eileengu #olympics #winterolympics ♬ original sound – Yahoo Sports
Eileen Gu literally laughed in the face of the reporter.
When a reporter asked Eileen if her two silver medals which she won at the 2026 Winter Olympics felt like two gains or two losses because she didn’t win gold, she responded by literally laughing at the question. In Eileen’s case, as a respected skier who has proven herself time again, it’s really the only way to respond to something like that. Oh, but she actually had a thoughtful and confident response after that too.
“I’m the most decorated freestyle female freestyle skier in history,” she said. “I think that’s an answer in and of itself. Um, how do I say this? Winning a medal at the Olympics is a life changing experience for every athlete. Doing it five times is exponentially harder, because every medal is equally hard for me. But everybody else’s expectations rise. And so the two medals lost situation, to be quite frank with you, I think it’s kind of a ridiculous perspective to take. I’m showcasing my best skiing. I’m doing things that quite literally have never been done before. And so I think that is more than good enough. But thank you.”
Boom. Mic drop. End of story. And in a clip from that exchange that was posted on TikTok, people applauded the five-time Olympic medalist for her response to the reporter’s question.
“Imagine having the chance to interview an Olympian and that’s the question you ask,” someone wrote in the comments.
Another added, “I love that she laughed at the absurdity of the question.”
Eileen Gu stands behind her decision to compete for China instead of the U.S.
Before Eileen made headlines for her answer about her silver medals, she faced controversy for something else. Eileen was born in the United States to an American father and Chinese mother. Beginning with the 2022 Winter Olympics,Eileen has always represented China in honor of her mom instead of the U.S.
When JD Vance told Fox News he thinks American-born athletes would want to compete for the U.S. rather than other countries, Eileen had a perfect response to that too, per USA Today: “I’m flattered. Thanks, JD! That’s sweet.”
