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Eileen Gu Injured While Training in New Zealand

Originally posted on Powder | By Ian Greenwood | Last updated Aug 18, 2025 5:17 PM ET

In a post on the Chinese social media platform Weibo on August 16, 2025, Olympic and X Games medalist and skier Eileen Gu said she was injured after an accident while training in New Zealand.

The South China Morning Post reported that eyewitnesses said Gu was taken to the hospital in a stretcher and appeared to be seriously injured.

Gu said that she flew to Christchurch, New Zealand, on Saturday for medical imaging. As of Saturday, she said she was hopeful she would be back on snow soon but was waiting for confirmation from her team.

Last January, Gu withdrew from the big air and halfpipe competitions at X Games Aspen 2025 after falling and injuring herself in street style. She said her training session in New Zealand marked her first time on snow after months of injury.

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Eileen Gu goes for a grab at a FIS Freestyle World Cup event in Secret Garden, China (2024).Photo: VCG/Getty Images

Gu, who has an enormous fan base worldwide, expressed her gratitude for her supporters on Weibo but also asked “please don’t record or take photos while I’m training.”

“Being interrupted is extremely dangerous, and even on the chairlift, I need to focus on visualizing and thinking through my movements,” she wrote. “To save time, I'm skipping lunch breaks and minimizing bathroom visits.”

Gu added that she would be happy to meet her fans at the ski resort restaurant after the terrain park closes. Speculations are rising that a fan interaction could have led to Gu's injury, but details are scarce.

Eileen Gu.Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Born and raised in San Francisco, California, Gu is among this generation’s best-known freeski competitors. As a teenager, she chose to represent China, her mother’s native country, while skiing competitively. She’s fluent in both Mandarin and English.

At 21, Gu’s already won four X Games medals and three Olympic medals—five of those medals are gold. She’s also a Stanford student and high-profile model with multiple magazine cover photos.

This year, she made her Sports Illustrated Swimsuit debut. Gu was named the second-highest-paid female athlete in the world in 2024 by Sportico , just behind the American tennis player Coco Gauff.

The upcoming Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics begin in February 2026.

This article first appeared on Powder and was syndicated with permission.

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