As we bid goodbye to another Olympics, we can marvel at the (mostly) young athletes who got to do something amazing as a representative of their country - while the IOC makes a ton of money and leaves the host city holding the bag from a financial perspective.
But this item is about one of these youngsters - Eileen Gu, who is an American, but represents China at the Olympics. She's a remarkable person and I thought it was worth commenting on her.
You see, Gu is a smart woman, and she figured out how to make the most of her opportunity and love of skiing early on. She created a social media presence and got noticed. And because she's of Chinese ancestry, she was invited to participate on behalf of that country. They pay for her training and related expenses. And yet they allow for her to continue to use her presence to maintain sponsorships, and continue modelling. And she is able to remain in the United States and pursue a degree at Stanford. She's studying International Relations, but that hasn't stopped her from taking courses in Quantum Physics! (and as a few physicists have noted, that may help her perform better because she understands what it takes to make her successful at her sport.
She went on to win 6 medals across two olympics. And yet, she is mostly humble and understands her place as a kind of leader - and took the high road when several knuckleheads tried to chastise her for not representing the United States.
Heck, she cried after her last event, while giving an interview, because she was informed her grandmother - an inspiration - had just died.
I have so much respect for her and her intelligent approach. Consider this quote:
"I'm an introspective young woman. I spend a lot of time in my head. It's not a bad place to be. I journal a lot. I break down all of my thought processes. I'm 22, so with neuroplasticity on my side I can literally become exactly who I want to be. How cool is that? How empowering is that, right?
"I get to become every day the kind of person that me, at age eight, would revere. I would be obsessed with me today. Are you kidding? I would love me and I think that's the biggest flex of all time."
We need so many more people like her in the world!
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