"I took off my ski suit."" Seolwon Goddess Gu Ai-ling, Why Milan Remains After the Olympics "Preparing the runway because of fashion, which is my main job." [Milan Olympics]

*This content was translated by AI.

Eileen Gu (23, Chinese name Gu Ailing), who swept three medals at the 2026 Milan and Cortina Winter Olympics, will remain in Milan after the closing of the Olympics and continue her career as another main business, a fashion icon.

British 'The Sun' reported on the 27th (local time) that "Freestyle ski star Gu Ai-ling will perform on the Milan Fashion Week stage even before the heat of the Olympics goes away."

Guai-ling won a freestyle ski halfpipe gold medal and a silver medal in big air and slopestyle respectively at the Winter Olympics. "Having been crowned the most medal-winning female athlete in the history of freestyle skiing at the Olympics, she will wear fancy luxury costumes instead of ski suits for the time being," the media said.

"It's during Milan Fashion Week right now," Guai-ling told the media. I have another job called fashion, he said. "I'm very excited to explore new fields, be creative, explore my femininity through fashion that I've always loved, and put it alongside sports like skiing."

"I think these two areas coexist very beautifully, and I want to express that in Milan next week," he added.

Born and raised in San Francisco, the U.S., Gu Ai-ling drew attention from all over the world at the age of 15 when he decided to wear the Chinese national team mark instead of the U.S. Regarding the decision at the time, he explained, "The opportunity to inspire millions of young people where their mothers were born during the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

As a result, this choice has become a "God's move." Having emerged as China's top sports star with two gold medals around his neck at the Beijing Games, he won unimaginable wealth and honor beyond the realm of sports.

According to Forbes in the United States, Gu I-ling ranked fourth (about $23.1 million, about 33 billion won) in 2025 as the world's highest-paid female sports athlete. In front of him are only the world's top tennis players, including Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka, and Iga Civiontech.

What is noteworthy is the structure of income. Unlike tennis stars who earned most of their income from major tournament prize money, the prize money of ski tournaments accounted for only about $100,000 (about 140 million won) in Gui-ling's income. All of the rest of the astronomical revenue came from sponsorship contracts and modeling activities.

He is also the "Um's Daughter," currently attending Stanford University, and has appeared on the covers of numerous fashion magazines, including Harper's Bazaar, Elle, and Vogue. He is also a global campaign model for global luxury brands such as Fendi, Gucci, Tiffany & Co., and Louis Vuitton, and has also been named a founding member of Victoria's Secret's "VS Collective."

Guai-ling, who also received the spotlight at some of the world's leading fashion events such as the 2022 Met Gala and 2023 Paris Fashion Week, will stay in Milan until March 2. Milan is a significant city where he made his catwalk debut for the first time in 2023.

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*This content was translated by AI.