SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — Freestyle skiing champion and international model Eileen Gu is preparing for a homecoming of a different kind as she steps into the role of grand marshal for the San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade on Saturday.
HOW TO WATCH: SF Chinese New Year Parade 2026
For the 22-year-old, the honor carries deep personal meaning rooted in her childhood and her connection to the city where she was born and raised.
“I’m so excited. The San Francisco Chinese New Year parade is, like, none other,” Gu said during an exclusive one-on-one interview with ABC7 Eyewitness News anchor Kristen Sze in the Mission District. “I grew up watching it, and the entire city knows what’s happening, because the sound, the cheering, the sights, the smells, the brightness, it’s really unparalleled.”
Gu, a three-time Olympic champion and six-time medalist who recently added three more medals at the Milan-Cortina Games, said the grand marshal role is unlike anything she has done before. “This is a special thing to be Grand Marshal, and be part of it,” she said.
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Even with her reputation for fearlessness on the slopes, Gu admitted one part of her parade role makes her a bit nervous: lighting the ceremonial firecrackers. “A little bit? Um, I’m sure there are safety precautions that I’m going to get briefed on,” she said. “But yeah, first time handling explosives, I will say.”
Gu’s ties to San Francisco run deep. She attended Katherine Delmar Burke School for K-8 and then San Francisco University High School, where she ran cross country and track, played basketball, and developed a love for the city’s trails and coastline.
“San Francisco is such a special city, and I will not shut up about it to anybody who will listen,” she said.
She recalled attending the San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade as a child, even meeting then-Mayor, now Governor Gavin Newsom.
RELATED: SF native, Olympic gold medalist Eileen Gu named grand marshal of city’s Chinese New Year Parade
She highlighted running Hellman Hollow in Golden Gate Park from sixth grade through high school and still revisits the course for fun.
“How many cities, major cities in the world, can you think of that have the incredible routes that the video offers?” she said. “There are so many hidden trails in there that I’m still exploring after all these years.”
Gu said the Chinese New Year has always been central to her family life, especially the time spent cooking with her mother and grandmother.
“I remember growing up making dumplings with my mom and grandma here in San Francisco,” she said. “My mom is the best at rolling them and making them super thin. And then my grandma was the best at packing those so full of filling. It’s, like, impossible to believe how she got them closed.”
Her grandmother, who helped raise her, remains a guiding presence despite passing away while Gu was competing at the Olympics. “She and I were massively close, and I’m so grateful to have had the time that I had with her,” Gu said. “She has this indomitable spirit, and I think that it’s almost impossible not to live on with that spirit.”
Though born in the Year of the Sheep, Gu laughed when told she shares traits with those born in the Year of the Horse. “Energetic- yep. Restless, charismatic. Can’t see that. Optimistic, quick thinking. Hopefully, confident, probably the most hardworking when motivated. Definitely,” she said.
Gu, who has spent the past two weeks traveling across three continents, said her long-term goals remain centered on impact. “My biggest goal has always been making the greatest amount of positive impact on the global stage that I possibly can,” she said. “At this moment in time, that takes the form of sport, fashion, and education.”
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