Among 2,800 athletes, freestyle skiing star Eileen Gu tops the earnings list
Among the approximately 2,800 athletes from 92 countries competing at the 2026 Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics, the highest earner over the past year was found to be freestyle skiing star Eileen Gu of China.
On the 6th, U.S. business magazine Forbes reported that "Eileen Gu earned 23 million dollars (about 33.77 billion won) over the past year, making her the highest-paid athlete among those competing at this Games." Gu was born to an American father and a Chinese mother.
On the 5th (local time), Chinese freestyle skier Gu Eileen is being interviewed. Photo by Reuters, Yonhap News
Gu won two gold medals in freestyle skiing at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. At this Games, she is aiming for three titles in big air, halfpipe, and slopestyle. However, it is known that the prize money she has earned from competing in events amounts to only about 100,000 dollars.
On Feb. 18, 2022 (local time), Chinese athlete Eileen Gu waits for her score in the women's freeski halfpipe final of the freestyle skiing event at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Photo by AFP and Yonhap News
Most of her income is analyzed to come from endorsements and modeling work. Gu has more than 2.1 million followers on Instagram. In China, she has also been actively working as a cover model for fashion magazines. Yahoo Sports reported, "Early last January, Gu posted a video titled 'My Daily Life' on social media, and within ten days the number of views exceeded 1 million."
The second-highest earner was Auston Matthews of the National Hockey League (NHL). His annual income was 20 million dollars (about 29.4 billion won), and Forbes explained that he is "the only NHL player whose annual income has exceeded 20 million dollars."
In third place was alpine skier Lindsey Vonn of the United States, whose annual income was estimated at 8 million dollars (about 11.8 billion won). Born in 1984, Vonn retired in 2019 and then returned to competition for the 2024-2025 season. At this Games, she is aiming to become the oldest Olympic alpine skiing medalist in history.
At the women's halfpipe medal ceremony at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics in Zhangjiakou, China, on February 10, 2022 (local time), gold medalist Chloe Kim (United States) struck a pose. AP and Yonhap News
Fourth was snowboarder Chloe Kim of the United States, with an annual income of 4 million dollars (about 5.9 billion won). She is attempting to win a third consecutive Olympic gold medal in snowboarding, a first in the history of the Olympic snowboard events. At this Games, she is highly likely to compete against Choi Gaeon of Sehwa Girls' High School, who is seeking the first Olympic gold medal in Korean skiing history.
Fifth was men's singles figure skater Ilia Malinin of the United States, whose annual income was tallied at 700,000 dollars (about 1 billion won).
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