Olympic Freestyle Skier Eileen Gu 'Unable to Walk' After X Games Injury

Olympic freestyle skier, Eileen Gu, was competing in the street style event on Jan. 24 when she took a brutal fall. The injury has forced her to withdraw from the rest of the competition.

The SI Swimsuit model made the announcement of her withdrawal on her social media story:

"Had a rough time in Streetstyle finals today. Thank you for all the well wishes. I'm okay but unable to walk at this point in time due to some really aggressive bruising on that last crash."

"To be completely honest, my mental and physical tanks hit zero yesterday. I was planning on pulling out two nights ago but challenged myself to get through the practices and to stay in the contests for the love of the game and as a mental strength exercise."

Gu, 21, shared that she's been battling a fever and appears to have overexerted herself.

Previously, she became the first freestyle skier to win three medals which took place at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. Additionally, Gu is a three-time Winter X Games champion and two-time world champion.

Although an injury certainly wasn't on her radar, she can now take this time to recover and re-fuel.

"I'm honestly proud of myself for making it this far, not giving up, and giving it literally everything," she wrote. "I've ignored so many warning signs it's like a rave in my brain [right now]. Time to listen to the body and take a step back."

Gu states that she's glad the injury isn't worse, considering what could have resulted from the crash.

As we've seen in the past, Gu is not afraid to work hard and overcome adversity. Once she makes a full recovery and is cleared to get back on the slopes, it's likely that she will make a powerful comeback.