Eileen Gu and Kamila Valieva became the teenage faces of the Winter Olympics, but their memories of Beijing 2022 are likely to be wildly different.
San Francisco native Gu is now a two-time gold-medalist, the Olympics' youngest ever freestyle skiing champion, a Chinese national hero -- and a budding author.
Born and raised in California, Gu chose to compete for China in 2019 -- where her mother was born -- and became the first freestyler skier in history to win three medals at a Games, winning gold in both the halfpipe and big air events.
"I'm writing a book," Gu told reporters on Saturday. "I've been writing diaries for years because I knew that the way I grew up was different, interesting and special, I'd like to share it with everyone in the future."
Role model
Hailed as the "pride of China" after winning her first gold, Gu has since won more medals than anyone else for the country at the Games.
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But Gu doesn't view her achievements at Beijing 2022 as purely a personal achievement -- they also serve a greater representational purpose, according to the 18-year-old.
"Extreme sports, we all know, are heavily dominated by men and stereotypically it has not had the kind of representation and sporting equity that it should," said Gu.
"So I think that as a young biracial woman, it is super important to be able to reach those milestones and to be able to push boundaries -- not only my own boundaries but those of the sport and those of the record books because that's what paves the past for the next generation of girls."
Known as Gu Ailing in China, even before the Olympics the young star's face was everywhere in the country -- splashed across billboards, commercials, magazine covers and on state television in the build up to a home Games.
Given her success at Bejing 2022, her sky-high popularity unsurprisingly continued to rocket.
"If you see yourself in the sport, it totally changes your perception of what you can do in it," Gu added.
"So my biggest goal is one, to have fun for myself, but also to break the boundaries of the boxes that people get put in."
Kamila Valieva competes in the women's single skating free skating of the figure skating event during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing on February 17, 2022.
Kamila Valieva competes in the women's single skating free skating of the figure skating event during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing on February 17, 2022.