16 incredible photos of Eileen Gu's historic multi-medal run at the 2022 Beijing Olympics

From the photographer, Richard Heathcote:

The Big Air venue was set in an old industrial factory that was decommissioned before the Beijing Summer Olympics in 2008. It's a really cool redeveloped part of Beijing that has kept the buildings and used them to style the area.

It was important to show this and to give the athletes some scale and sense of how high they are flying above the backdrop. Gu also competes without ski poles, so I wanted to show some of the trick where she is rotating, grabbing a ski and making an interesting shape. I like the way the goggles are lit up by the snow below, it really helps to make her stand out.

From the photographer, Richard Heathcote:

Training days are important. It allows photographers to explore the venue and take pictures that might not be possible during competition.

I worked out where the sun was going to be coming up and looked at the angles to see where the athletes would be spinning and performing the trick part of their jump. There was also the Olympic rings on the top of a tower in the distance, so it was a good opportunity to give the picture some event identity.

From the photographer, Richard Heathcote:

It was possible for us to install a remote camera under the kicker looking directly upwards as Gu took off. The rings are an important identifier when shooting an Olympics so I placed an extremely wide angle lens on a camera in a pit that the snowmakers dug out for us so we could get the athletes taking off.

The sun moved around during competition and casted shadows from floodlights and boom cameras across the kicker. It took some patience and luck to get the right athlete jumping at the right time when the front of the kicker looked clean. The trick Gu is performing has a lot of twist in it, so she has a really interesting shape as she takes off.

From the photographer, David Ramos:

Photographing Eileen Gu was one of the best moments throughout these Olympic Games. I was lucky enough to be able to do it at the Big Air Shougang where you could have a view over the city of Beijing.

This has become one of the most iconic venues of the Games as well. The idea was to integrate Gu during her rounds into the industrial landscape of the renovated Shougang park with the city in the background.

The atmosphere was fantastic, with the fans rooting for her. Gu gave a perfect performance and gave us some very plastic tricks to photograph.

From the photographer, Justin Setterfield:

Eileen Gu had such a great energy about her throughout the competition. She seemed super relaxed, yet confident and just all around happy to be in Beijing competing. It was a real pleasure photographing her.

From the photographer, Elsa Garrison:

I captured this image of Eileen Gu as she completed a run during the Women's Freestyle Skiing Freeski Big Air Final. I was positioned to capture the athletes at the finish line so would shoot as they land. That is when the best and big reactions happen, whether that be joy of landing an awesome run or disappointment and defeat after an unfortunate fall or crash.

From the photographer, Justin Setterfield:

This was one of the standout events in the Beijing zone as Freeski Big Air made its Olympic debut. Shougang's 64-meter high and 164-meter long ramp made for some spectacular aerials and seeing Eileen Gu of Team China flying through the air upside down on her way to a gold medal was always going to lend itself to some nice images like this one.

From the photographer, Lintao Zhang:

In the first two rounds of the competition on this day, I chose different backgrounds to capture Eileen Gu. In the last round, my photo position was at the finish line, so I was lucky to capture this emotional picture of her celebrating with a perfect white background.

From the photographer, Elsa Garrison:

For this event, I was working with two other photographers and my position was elevated and head on to the finish line. My primary job was to capture the emotion after each run.

Gu had a great third run, where she did a difficult trick and stuck the landing. It has got to be an amazing feeling when you pull off a feat like that which you see in her own reaction here.

From the photographer, Elsa Garrison:

Tess Ledeux of France had a solid lead and it looked certain she would win the gold in this event. Eileen Gu was not far behind after the second run, and she had to have a flawless and spectacular run to win the gold.

Tess Ledeux's final run was not as strong as her first two and she was devastated. What is great about this moment is that her fellow medalists are consoling her. Gu won the gold, but she did not hesitate to lend support to Ledeux during this moment. You just don't see that a lot in sport, so was really memorable and special to capture.

From the photographer, Elsa Garrison:

After a day of covering the Big Air Skiing event earlier, I was assigned to cover the Medals Plaza later that night. It was a cool assignment as we would get to see the pride the athletes had when receiving their medals. I saw the Olympic rings on the screen behind Gu and framed it to include them as she looked up in celebration.

From the photographer, Al Bello:

This was taken during training before competition. I wanted to get Eileen Gu in a good action position and work the sun, nice light, and blue sky into the photo. I had to climb the halfpipe with crampons because it is so steep. Without crampons you are likely to fall and hurt yourself.

I watched Gu do her routine a few times and figured out what I thought was best for a launch point and for her to fly over me. I got in position and waited for her to go. She flew over me several more times and I photographed her using different lenses and changing angles. In the end, it gave me a good idea of her routine for when I covered her gold medal win in the Finals a few days later.

From the photographer, Maddie Meyer:

I made this image of Eileen Gu after she won the silver medal in the Women's Freeski Slopestyle event. There are very few fans allowed at the venues, and they were all from China.

As one of the team's most famous athletes during these Games, she has quite a following! Though there aren't as many fans as there might have been prior to COVID, Gu glanced to the crowd to hear their support.

From the photographer, Maddie Meyer:

I made this image right after Eileen Gu realized she had won the silver medal in the Women's Freeski Slopestyle event. Athletes have to wait until each competitor has finished their run until they know who will receive a medal.

Upon the last athletes score being announced, Gu jumped onto gold medalist Mathilde Gremaud of Switzerland to celebrate their results in the big event.

From the photographer, Maddie Meyer:

I love photographing the finish area of the Freeski events. While the runs are incredible, it's hard to focus on athletes' personalities or expressions when they're wearing large goggles, helmets, and often face coverings.

Positioning myself where they see their scores enables me to photograph the emotional ups and downs of the competition. This image was part of a sequence with Eileen Gu realizing she had won silver for the Women's Freestyle Skiing Freeski Slopestyle Final and grabbing onto gold medalist Mathilde Gremaud to relish the moment.

From the photographer, Maddie Meyer:

Here, Gu stands on the podium for the flower ceremony, celebrating her silver medal in the Women's Freeski Slopestyle event. She draped the Chinese flag over her shoulders as an initial recognition of her achievement.

Here in Beijing, athletes receive their medals at a specific medal plaza later that night, but receive flowers and pose for photos following their event. Her smile was all over her face following the event which produced some really special moments.