US Born Chinese Olympian Eileen Gu Does The Unthinkable To Raise Over $8 Million For An Incurable Diseases

Eileen Gu, the Chinese skiing sensation is now helping people run. Gu was born in California but represented her motherland, China. Competing as a freestyle skier, Gu has gone on to become a legend of the sport. Soaring to the heights of greatness, Gu’s overall medals tally boasts of as many as nine golds. She won a couple of them back in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics in the Halfpipe and Big Air disciplines. She also clinched silver in the same tournament competing in the Slopestyle. 

Apart from the Olympics, the 20-year-old has clinched gold in the Winter Youth Olympics, Winter X Games, and the Worlds. However, some athletes transcend the realm of their own sport and Eileen Gu is one of them. After accomplishing so much in the realm of skiing, Gu decided to take an interest in running. And guess what? Not only has she succeeded, but has also recently raised a significant amount for charity. 

Eileen Gu runs for Wings For Life World Run

Wings For Life is a charitable organization that aims to find a cure for patients suffering from devastating spinal cord injuries. It vows to conduct clinical trials and modern research to provide the victims with substantial medical support. And to facilitate the funding, the organization holds an annual charity race, known as the Wings For Life World Run. The marathon, currently in its 11th year of operation, has Redbull as its sponsor and receives support from several renowned faces across the globe. 

One such face is the Olympian Eileen Gu. Supporting the cause, Gu attempted to run as much as she could. Taking to her Instagram stories, the 2x Olympic gold medal winner uploaded glimpses of her run throughout the day. According to her initial updates, Gu started her run early in the morning at 4:08 am. She captioned one of her stories, “Running @wflworldrun for Spinal Cord Research this morning !!!” By the time the clock struck 4:40 am, Gu was already down by 5 miles. 

Continuing her run for another couple of hours, Eileen Gu finally stopped at 19.48 miles. She ran nonstop for 2:31:07s. While the WFL organization thanked her, Gu expressed her excitement saying, “The longest run I’ve ever done:) felt good to push myself !!” Eileen Gu also stated that the charity raised a whopping sum of 8.1 million euros. Well, this was not the first time Eileen Gu resorted to running. 

Eileen Gu came second best in San Francisco

Eileen Gu’s love for running dates a long time back. Back in 2022, Gu decided to participate in the San Francisco half marathon out of sheer curiosity. While Gu did not have any preparations to run, she registered herself just a day before the event. But what transpired in the middle was shocking, to say the least. 

Edging past seasoned campaigners, Eileen Gu recorded a time of 1:41:7s. This was enough to earn her the prestigious position of being the runner in the under-19 category. Thus, while Gu is a multi-talented athlete, her zeal for helping the needy elevates her even further in her already established realm of greatness.