Eileen Gu isn’t just an extremely talented freestyle skier; she can also lay claim to being the richest athlete at this year’s Winter Olympics.Born in the USA, but now representing China, Gu took home two golds and a silver at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing. At this year’s Games, currently being contested in Italy, she’s already won a silver in the freeski slopestyle event, and is a favorite to defend her titles in the freeski big air and freeski halfpipe events.Needless to say, she is among the cream of the crop where her chosen sport is concerned. But what fans might not be aware of is that she’s actually the highest-paid athlete at the Games as well.

Gu’s history in skiing stretches back to her youth. The 22-year-old was born September 3, 2003 in San Francisco to a first-generation Chinese mother and an American father, and took up skiing at an early age.Reports claim Gu began skiing aged just three, having been enrolled in freestyle skiing by her mother, who deemed racing to be too dangerous.By age nine, she had become the junior group champion for the USA Snowboard and Freeski Association. And she didn’t just excel in sport, but also academically, earning herself an early entry to Stanford University in 2020.