On paper, if someone were to ask you if you think before you speak, you\u2019d probably be offended.<\/p>\n
But when The Athletic\u2019s Charlotte Harpur asked Chinese-American freestyle skier Eileen Gu that question during a press conference at the 2026 Winter Olympics, there was a genuine reason for the question and a genuine appreciation from the person tasked with answering it.<\/p>\n
Harpur recently profiled Gu in a piece titled \u201cInside the mind of Eileen Gu, Winter Olympics superstar \u2014 and so much more<\/a>,\u201d in which she attempts to understand what makes the free skier who has won the most gold medals ever tick.<\/p>\n What is it like covering Eileen Gu for 2 weeks at the #WinterOlympics<\/a>?<\/p>\n I tried to put it into words. @TheAthletic<\/a><\/p>\n Gift article = free to read https:\/\/t.co\/T7kK6iKo5N<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/NFhqgkEiid<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Charlotte Harpur (@charlotteharpur) February 23, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n It was Harpur\u2019s question at the presser that kick-started the idea.<\/p>\n \u201cThis isn\u2019t supposed to be a rude question, but do you think before you speak?\u201d asked Harpur. \u201cBecause you answer questions so quickly and so comprehensively, whether it\u2019s about geopolitics or your sport or aerodynamics. Can you take us into your brain?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThank you, Charlotte. That\u2019s very kind,\u201d said Gu. \u201cOh, man. I think overall, I\u2019m just a pensive person. I\u2019m a very introspective I\u2019m an introspective young woman. I spend a lot of time in my head, and it\u2019s not a bad place to be. I journal a lot. I break down all of my thought processes. I think I apply a very analytical lens to my own thinking, and I modify it because it\u2019s so interesting. You can control what you think. You can control how you think, and therefore, you can control who you are. And especially as a young person, I\u2019m 22, so with neuroplasticity on my side, I can literally become exactly who I want to be. How cool is that? How empowering is that?<\/p>\n \u201cAnd so the fact is, I get to become every day the person that me at age eight would revere. I would be obsessed with me today. Are you kidding? I would love me. And I think that\u2019s the biggest flex of all time, that you can have little younger you be proud of you today. And so I guess for me, it\u2019s like, yes, I spend a lot of time in my own head.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, I think a lot. But it\u2019s not really in an egotistical way. It\u2019s in a tinkering, like a scientist way. I\u2019m always trying to modify. I\u2019m trying to think, how can I be better? How can I approach my own brain the way that I approach my craft of free skiing? Skiing so that I can be better tomorrow than I was.\u201d<\/p>\n Not many 22-year-olds could offer a response like that, but Gu is no ordinary 22-year-old<\/a>. Along with being the most decorated free skier, she\u2019s an IMG model,\u00a0a Stanford University student, and has the wherewithal to compete for China rather than America and to handle the criticism lobbed at her from the highest levels of the U.S. government<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t