On paper, if someone were to ask you if you think before you speak, you’d probably be offended.
But when The Athletic’s Charlotte Harpur asked Chinese-American freestyle skier Eileen Gu that question during a press conference at the 2026 Winter Olympics, there was a genuine reason for the question and a genuine appreciation from the person tasked with answering it.
Harpur recently profiled Gu in a piece titled “Inside the mind of Eileen Gu, Winter Olympics superstar — and so much more,” in which she attempts to understand what makes the free skier who has won the most gold medals ever tick.
What is it like covering Eileen Gu for 2 weeks at the #WinterOlympics?
I tried to put it into words. @TheAthletic
Gift…