LIVIGNO, Italy – Eileen Gu went to take a photograph at the bottom of the halfpipe where she’d just won her third medal, first gold, of the 2026 Winter Olympics and sixth Olympic medal of her career to become the most-decorated free skier of all time.
It was then she checked her phone and saw the news – that her grandmother, Gouzhen Feng, had passed away.
“She was a really big part of my life growing up and somebody I looked up to immensely,” Gu said later at a press conference while apologizing for her tardiness.
Gu called her grandmother a fighter and shared that her middle name, Feng, is in her honor.
“A lot of people cruise through life,” Gu said. “and this woman was a steamship.”
"The reason I was late is that I just found out that my grandma passed away. She was a really big part of my life growing up and someone I looked up to immensely."
— CGTN Sports Scene (@CGTNSportsScene) February 22, 2026
-💔🇨🇳China's Gu Ailing after clinching her 2nd straight freeski halfpipe gold🥇at the #Olympics#MilanoCortina2026pic.twitter.com/6iK0MMT5tK
Coming into these Games, Gu said, Feng was sick. Gu understood that their final visit could likely be the final time she saw her. Gu didn’t promise to win a gold medal – which she did in women’s halfpipe Sunday in addition to silvers in the slopestyle and big air events. But Gu did promise her to be brave.
“I’m really happy that I was able to uphold that and hopefully do her proud, but it’s also a really difficult time for me now, so I apologize for being late, but that’s what was going on,” Gu said.
Gu, 22, was born in the United States but competes for China. A Bay Area native, she attends Stanford University during non-Olympic years and also has a burgeoning modeling career.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Eileen Gu learns grandmother died after winning gold at 2026 Olympics