Eileen Gu, the sensation of the Games

Nothing is better than waking up with your eyes still half closed, pressing the number 1 on the remote control, and seeing the best of the best served to you from your warm bed.

This morning that was skiing. Heading towards a jump and from there making an incredibly complicated flip. There was a Dutch participant, I wasn't very well informed, who actually skied to the finals. Impressive for someone coming from the flattest country in the world. But then there was Eileen Gu, a Chinese who made the most beautiful flip of all the ladies and grabbed gold. ‘What a cutie and what a stunner,’ we chirped from the couch (we had since moved to the breakfast table). And when she also gave a comforting hug to the Frenchwoman who came after her and didn't do as well, we grabbed the laptop. This called for a Google session.

Eileen Gu is not only a sensation on the slopes, she is also off-piste. This American Chinese born in San Francisco (her father is American, her mother is Chinese) is also a brilliant student, a top model (Victoria’s Secret, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, IWC, Elle, Vogue), an advocate for gender equality, and a good representation of women in sports. She consciously chose to represent China because she wants to encourage people in China to start sports, and she says that encouragement is needed there more than in America.

She learned to ski from her mother at Lake Tahoe, who was an avid skier and wanted to teach her daughter so that she could keep up with her mother a bit. I believe that worked out well.