{"id":493353,"date":"2026-02-20T22:47:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T22:47:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/493353\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T22:47:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T22:47:18","slug":"eileen-gu-calls-australian-teen-indra-brown-the-real-deal-ahead-of-2026-winter-olympics-freeski-halfpipe-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/493353\/","title":{"rendered":"Eileen Gu calls Australian teen Indra Brown ‘the real deal’ ahead of 2026 Winter Olympics freeski halfpipe final"},"content":{"rendered":"

Indra Brown has earned incredible plaudits since bursting onto the elite freeski halfpipe scene \u2014 and all of them are thoroughly deserved.<\/p>\n

As a result, she has earned some high-profile admirers, including global superstar and five-time Olympic medallist Gu Ailing, also known as Eileen Gu.<\/p>\n

“She’s great,” Gu said when asked about the teenage Aussie following qualifying, where the Chinese athlete finished fifth after a first-round fall.<\/p>\n

“I know her super well.<\/p>\n

“It’s so wonderful to see the next generation of the sport and I think she’s the real deal, so I’m excited to watch her progress.”<\/p>\n

\"Indra<\/p>\n

Indra Brown is ‘the real deal’ according to Gu Ailing. (Supplied: AOC\/Chris Hocking)<\/p>\n

Get the latest:<\/p>\n

Winter Olympics day 14<\/a>: Aussie Wheatley makes Games debut<\/p>\n

Stay across the highs and lows of the Games with the ABC Sport Daily podcast<\/a> and ABC Sport<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To earn such praise from such an elite competitor shows that Brown is a genuine contender for a medal at these Games.<\/p>\n

Not only that, but Australia’s youngest athlete at these Games was in sublime form in qualifying on Thursday, scoring 87.50 in the second of her two runs to sit fourth<\/a> heading into the top-12 final on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Only world champion Zoe Atkin (91.50), silver medallist at those championships Engadin Li Fanghui (90.00) and unfortunate Canadian Cassie Sharpe (88.25) \u2014 whose final hopes surely ended with her sickening fall in the second run<\/a> \u2014 were able to better Brown’s qualifying score.<\/p>\n

\"Eileen<\/p>\n

Eileen Gu says she is not surprised by Indra Brown’s performance. (Getty Images: Ian MacNicol)<\/p>\n

But Gu went even further, noting that thanks to Brown’s coach, Jamie Melton, the most decorated women’s freeski athlete in history saw a reflection of herself in the young Australian.<\/p>\n

“Her coach who coaches her now coached me until I was 15, so I’m very close with her. I think of her as like a little mini me,” Gu said.<\/p>\n

“Like, she looks exactly like me. Her run is pretty much the same.”<\/p>\n

And Gu would know \u2014 the pair have already shared a podium on the FIS World Cup this year, at Secret Garden in Zhangjiakou in November.<\/p>\n

It was Brown’s first ever senior World Cup event but the youngster, then aged just 15, stunned the competition to earn third place<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“I’m not surprised [she’s in the mix]. I’m not surprised at all.<\/p>\n

“I’ve been skiing with her all season, I know how good she is, so I’m not surprised.”<\/p>\n

\"Indra<\/p>\n

Indra Brown’s form at these Games is not a surprise to Gu Ailing. (Getty Images: Cameron Spencer)<\/p>\n

The performance may have left a lasting impression on Gu, but the result was also memorable because of what happened on the podium afterwards.<\/p>\n

“When she had her first podium in China, she couldn’t get the champagne open<\/a>,” Gu said.<\/p>\n

“So I helped her open it on the podium, and it was so sweet because the same thing happened when I was her age, 15, on my first World Cup podium and I couldn’t open it and no-one helped me and I wish someone had.”<\/p>\n

Brown said she had been aware of some of Gu’s comments about her but was still thrilled.<\/p>\n

“It’s been super sweet,” Brown said.<\/p>\n

“I’ve been able to call her a good friend of mine, so it’s super special just to be a skier with her as well here.”<\/p>\n

\"Indra<\/p>\n

Indra Brown has three FIS World Cup medals from four starts. (Reuters: Dylan Martinez)<\/p>\n

Brown won a bronze medal in her debut World Cup event and a silver medal in her debut X-Games<\/a> so far this season.<\/p>\n

For her to add an Olympic medal to that already impressive run of results, she will need to perform incredibly well in what is a field stacked with experience and talent.<\/p>\n

Great Britain’s Atkin is likely the favourite, the 23-year-old having won medals at the last three world championships, including gold last year. She led qualification with a 91.50.<\/p>\n

But the list of accolades of those other skiers who made the final illustrates the task Brown faces, with two world champions, two Olympic champions, an Olympic medallist and three Winter Youth Olympic Games medallists in the mix.<\/p>\n

Read more about the Winter Olympics:<\/p>\n

Any pressure?<\/p>\n

“Yeah, there’s definitely nerves that go through,” Brown said of her feelings at the top of the pipe ahead of her first run.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

All eyes are on Indra Brown ahead of the final. (Getty Images: Ian MacNicol)<\/p>\n

“I want to do my best and show everyone what I can do.<\/p>\n

ABC Sport Daily podcast<\/a><\/p>\n

ABC Sport Daily is your daily sports conversation. We dive into the biggest story of the day and get you up to speed with everything else that’s making headlines.<\/p>\n

“Landing that first one \u2026 the relief it gives you is just, it’s so amazing.”<\/p>\n

Now she’s in the final, it’s a free hit, a way to show that she is, if not a challenger for now, then certainly one for the future.<\/p>\n

“I’m just going to go out there and try to enjoy myself,” Brown said.<\/p>\n

“I’m not putting any pressure or any thoughts over a certain result.<\/p>\n

“I want to just go out there, ski in my first Olympic finals at my first Olympics and enjoy it.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Indra Brown has earned incredible plaudits since bursting onto the elite freeski halfpipe scene \u2014 and all of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":493354,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[110809,64,63,182781,225814,190851,195273,190846,190438,234686,142583,85,234053,31080],"class_list":{"0":"post-493353","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-2026-winter-olympics","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-eileen-gu","12":"tag-freeski","13":"tag-gu-ailing","14":"tag-halfpipe","15":"tag-indra-brown","16":"tag-milan-cortina","17":"tag-milan-cortina-2026","18":"tag-milano-cortina","19":"tag-sports","20":"tag-winter-olympic-games","21":"tag-winter-olympics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=493353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493353\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/493354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=493353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=493353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=493353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}