Meet the Stanford undergrads heading to the Winter Olympics
Eileen Gu | Ian MacNicol / Getty Images
For the first time, four undergraduates from the Farm—including international relations major Eileen Gu—will be competing in the games. Learn how they balance athletics and academics and what to expect in Milano-Cortina.
This year will mark an extremely rare inflection point in Stanford sports history. For the first time, at least four undergraduates from the Farm will be competing in the Olympic Winter Games.
All four chose Stanford for academic excellence despite its lack of snow and ice. All four have intense majors – from simultaneously conquering a computer science and pre-med track to environmental systems engineering.
Three stepped out for part of the Olympic year, and one – in less than seven weeks – went from vying for an NCAA Division I soccer title to racing on cross-country skis in Alaska, then New York (where she won two national titles), and eventually Germany to beat some of the world’s top skiers to make the U.S. 2026 Olympic team.
Here is a look at the Farm’s Fab Four, their backstories, how they balance academics and athletics, and what to expect in Milano-Cortina.
Eileen Gu (China) freeskiing halfpipe, slopestyle
The 22-year-old freeskiing phenom Eileen Gu came to Stanford after the 2022 Beijing Olympics, where she won halfpipe gold, big air gold, and slopestyle silver for the host nation, China. Though born and raised in the Bay Area, she represented her mother’s homeland and became the first athlete ever to win three medals in freeskiing.
Gu had long been an extraordinary student – scoring 1580 on her SATs and becoming the first in her school’s history to graduate a year early. When she got into Stanford via early decision, she said it was her dream since she was 6, “the only dream I’ve had for longer than my dream of going to the Olympics.”
Once enrolled, she took quantum physics, joined a sorority, and settled on an international relations major. In between, she posed for the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue; made the covers of Time, Vogue Hong Kong; and walked runways in Milan, Shanghai, Paris, and New York. Every year since 2022, according to Forbes, she’s been among the four highest-earning female athletes.
Finally, after watching Gu juggle school, skiing, and fashion, her mother and confidante, Yan (a 1994 Stanford MBA), convinced Eileen to take off the current school year to prepare for Milano Cortina, where she is favored to defend both of her Olympic gold medals.
After a hard crash in August in New Zealand, Gu has rarely competed this winter, but she did win two World Cup events in her specialties – including a 1-2 finish with Atkin in the halfpipe at Secret Garden, China, in December. Only 1.5 points split the Stanfordites, to set up an epic (world champ vs. Olympic champ) showdown on Feb. 21.