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Controversial Olympic athlete Eileen Gu called out the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) over the tight Olympic schedule she has, which she said will prevent her from getting in the proper training sessions she needs for a freeski event.
Gu, who is representing China during the 2026 Winter Olympics, made her thoughts known after she clinched a spot in the big air final, which takes place Monday. She said competing in the final will take her away from properly practicing for the qualifying round of the halfpipe final, which takes place on Thursday.
“I’m disappointed in FIS,” she said. “I think the Olympics should epitomize aspiration, and I think being able to do something that’s beyond the ordinary should be celebrated instead of punished.”
Gu said she wasn’t trying to get special treatment, only the same amount of practice time as her competitors. She said she tried to compromise, including joining the snowboarders’ training on the halfpipe. She said the FIS told her it couldn’t make the change because it wouldn’t be fair to the other competitors.
Gu already won silver in slopestyle earlier this week.
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“I think it’s really unfair. I think it’s punishing excellence, to be completely honest with you,” Gu added. “Because I dare to do three events, and this is making it completely impossible to train fairly for the third event.”
FIS scheduled three training sessions before qualifying – an increase from two for a typical World Cup event. The organization’s spokesman, Bruno Sassi, said “every effort has been made to facilitate the best possible training” for the athletes.
“But as we have already seen at these Games, for athletes who choose to compete in multiple disciplines and/or multiple events, conflicts can sometimes be inevitable,” he said.
Gu, who was born in the U.S. but chose to compete for China, hasn’t skied in a halfpipe event since December and hasn’t competed in big air since winning the gold in the 2022 Beijing Games. The halfpipe event is a bit more dangerous than the other two.
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Gu will have the big air final on Monday, followed by the halfpipe qualifiers on Thursday, with the final coming Saturday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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