A wealth profitable sponsorship offers has allowed a Winter Olympics star to climb to fourth within the girls’s sporting wealthy listing, regardless of missing in prize cash
Eileen Gu is representing China on the Winter Olympics (Picture: Getty) This text comprises affiliate hyperlinks, we are going to obtain a fee on any gross sales we generate from it. Be taught extra
Eileen Gu will not be as well-known because the likes of Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek on the planet of sports activities, however she’s proper up there amongst the tennis stars on the ladies’s wealthy listing. Whereas the San Fransisco-born freestyle skiier is nowhere close to the trio by way of prize cash, a wealth of profitable sponsorship offers noticed her rise to a gargantuan fourth in 2025’s prime feminine sporting earners.
As per Forbes, Gu snagged a whopping £16.9million of her complete £17m estimated earnings for final yr by way of engagements away from the world’s halfpipes, slopestyles and large airs. Gauff, in the meantime, is the one athlete who bested her by way of off-court earnings alone. Gu’s inventory skyrocketed on the age of 18, when she clinched a pair of gold medals and an extra silver on the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
What ensued within the years which have adopted are profitable model and endorsement offers from corporations throughout the USA and China, in addition to modelling stints with the likes of IMG, Louis Vuitton and Victoria’s Secret. A following of greater than seven million on Weibo and an additional two million on Instagram has additionally opened the door for additional alternatives.
With long-term offers with the likes of Porsche, Pink Bull, Anta Sports activities and TCL Electronics, it is simple to see the place massive chunks of Gu’s earnings have come from, given how little athletes obtain by way of compensation within the sport of freestyle skiiing. For context, Gu acquired round £32,000 for profitable her first two occasions of the 2025/26 FIS season.
Talking about her mindset forward of the brand new yr, Gu stated: “I’ve been coaching a lot, I’ve been working so exhausting, and each single time I keep the additional hour, do the additional run, it’s proof to myself, it’s proof to myself that I’m a winner and I need to win. I practice like I’ve by no means gained, and I compete like I’ve by no means misplaced.”
Not solely thriving at Olympic stage, Gu additionally takes to the 2026 Winter Video games with a set of two golds and a bronze on the World Championships, three gold medals and a bronze on the Winter X Video games, and two golds and a silver at Winter Olympic youth stage.
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