Eileen Gu, Olympic champion for the People’s Republic of China, kicks off her 2025–26 FIS Freestyle Skiing World Cup campaign on Friday, December 12, at Secret Garden—the very halfpipe where she secured Olympic gold at Beijing 2022.
Gu has returned to the Secret Garden twice, triumphing in 2023 and again in 2024, further establishing herself as the athlete to beat with 14 World Cup halfpipe victories already on her record.
Last season, she captured three World Cup wins but missed the latter portion of the year and the World Championships due to injuries.
As this new season begins, the 22-year-old has already shown strong early-season form at Shaun White’s Snow League event, taking the Secret Garden halfpipe title ahead of eight other contenders.
The season-opening freeski World Cup event promises one of the strongest women’s halfpipe fields ever assembled, featuring Great Britain’s Zoe Atkin and China’s Li Fanghui, who shared last season’s Crystal Globe honors.
Canada’s Cassie Sharpe, the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic champion, also enters in top form after securing 2025 X Games halfpipe gold. Sharpe finished second to Gu at Secret Garden last season and remains a real podium threat.
Gu will face a demanding World Cup schedule across halfpipe, slopestyle, and big air—the events in which she collected Olympic silver and gold to complete her historic Beijing 2022 three-medal haul. She will be aiming to add more medals at Milano Cortina 2026 in February.
Read on for details on how and when to watch Gu in action.
- Eileen Gu exclusive on Milano Cortina 2026: From Italian food to art, she’s excited about ‘everything’
- 2025/26 FIS Freestyle Skiing World Cup freeski season preview: slopestyle, halfpipe & big air
