Olympic champion Eileen Gu has more to do on world stage

Eileen Gu, the American-born Olympic skiing gold medalist, said Tuesday that she competed for China to inspire young girls there about the sport.

The freestyle skier known as Gu Ailing in China won three medals at the Beijing 2022 Winter Games in February. She shared her thoughts in New York on Tuesday about her motivation and possible roles she may play after the Olympics. Gu attended the event with the others honored as the Time 100 Most Influential People of 2022.

"I wanted to compete for China for the Olympics, that was to inspire young girls. It was to spread the sport for people who may have never heard of it before," Gu said. "Especially those young girls who may not have that kind of representation". 

She added that it was "really my sole reason."

Gu's mother, who was born in China and was herself an athlete, graduated from Peking University and eventually received an MBA from Stanford University.

Asked whether she had any second thoughts about her decision to represent China in the Olympics, considering the current tension between the US and China, Eileen Gu said not at all.

"No, I don't have any regrets," she said, because every day on her social media she receives messages from hundreds of young girls worldwide who call her their inspiration. 

Gu has 1.6 million followers on Instagram, many of them young girls. They send her messages saying things such as "because of you, you inspired me to break my own boundaries and to try something that I never was possible before" and encouraged them "to be a better person". 

That "positive reinforcement cycle" motivated Gu.

"It's not like an idol and fan, it's friends moving together" to celebrate each other's success. "It's really beautiful," she said.

There are more than 300 million people participating in winter sports in China now, whereas skiing was a small sport not many years before. 

Gu said that sport is a shared experience that transcends gender, age, race, background and culture; it could bring about cultural exchange, communication and uplift one another, generating a cycle of positivity.

"My biggest goal has always been to leave a positive legacy and to leave the world a little bit better than the way that I found it," Gu said.

Gu also announced that she would be the ambassador for the United States' Winter Olympic Games bid in Salt Lake City in 2030, an event that will include 15 more countries, Gu said "this is a beautiful example of globalism and the capacity that we can use skiing, we can use sport, we can use the winter sports to connect people". 

"Having somebody with Eileen's fantastic profile worldwide, particularly with the youth, is just a dream come true for us," Fraser Bullock, president and CEO of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games, told Time.

Gu said she understands that with fame and success comes greater responsibility.

For one group in particular, young victims of bullying worldwide, Gu said their voices need to be heard. Otherwise, it is "incredibly detrimental during formative years of their lives", she said. 

"The biggest form of self-care that I've had for myself is to find my voice and to use it for causes that matter to me and to encourage people … to make the world better in their own way," said Gu.

Another area Gu is considering exerting her influence is in gender inequality in sports. Statistics indicate that girls under the age of 18 are six times more likely than their male counterparts to drop out of sports.

Gu, who was born in San Francisco and will attend Stanford in the fall, also has had tremendous success in the business world.

She models for some of the world's biggest fashion, jewelry and make-up brands, including Estée Lauder, Louis Vuitton and Tiffany & Co. 

In China, she is the face of major businesses such as China Mobile, Anta, Bank of China, and JD, while her sponsors in the United States include Red Bull, Cadillac, Beats by Dre, and Victoria's Secret.

Kayla Ma in New York contributed to this story.