Eileen Gu, the part-time teen model and world champion skier tasked with leading China’s Winter Olympics medal push
谷爱凌，既是兼职青少年模特，也是肩负代表中国队夺取冬奥会奖牌任务的世界滑雪冠军
Two years ago, Eileen Gu Ailing made a decision that may have unknowingly changed the course of freestyle skiing.
两年前，谷爱凌做出了一个决定，这个决定可能在不知不觉中改变了自由式滑雪的进程。
The then-15-year-old swapped her Team USA colours in favour of representing her mother’s birthplace of China, explaining on Instagram that it was a chance to “inspire millions of young people where my mom was born” and “promote the sport I love”.
当时15岁的谷爱凌将代表她所在队伍的颜色，从代表美国换成了代表中国（她母亲的出生地），她在Instagram上解释说，这是一个“激发我母亲出生的地方的数百万年轻人”和“推广我所热爱的运动”的机会。
Though she has often reiterated her pride for her American upbringing and Chinese heritage, Gu hoped to use her generational talents and ever-rising platform to help push China’s ambition of putting 300 million people into ice and snow sports.
尽管她常反复表达她对自己在美国的成长经历和拥有的中国血统感到自豪，但她希望利用自己遗传的天分和不断上升的平台，帮助推动中国让3亿人参与冰雪运动的雄心。
The mainland confirmed in January it had reached the milestone ahead of its home Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics (February 4 to 20), while “snow princess” Gu is fast becoming a household name and has graced the covers of several fashion magazines – but the world champion teen is just getting started.
中国大陆在1月份证实，它已经在其首都北京举办2022年冬奥会（2月4日至20日）之前达到了这一里程碑，而“滑雪公主”谷爱凌也变得家喻户晓，并登上了几家时尚杂志的封面——而这位青少年世界冠军才刚刚启程。
重点词汇
1. skier /ˈskiː.ər/ a person who skis 滑雪者
- He is an enthusiastic skier.
2. swap /swɒp/ to exchange one thing for another 把……换成
- I'll swap these two bottles for that one.
3. reiterate /riˈɪt.ər.eɪt/ to say something again, once or several times 反复说
- She reiterated that she had never seen him before.
4. household /ˈhaʊs.həʊld/ known to almost everyone; very familiar 家喻户晓的
- She became a household name in the 1960s.
5. grace /ɡreɪs/ to be in a place, on a thing etc. and make it look more attractive 为增色
- Her face has graced the covers of magazines across the world.
重点句型
… that may have unknowingly changed the course of freestyle skiing.
- 该句是that引导的定语从句，修饰先行词decision，that在从句中充当主语，不可省略。
延伸阅读
US-born Gu, 18, speaks fluent English and Mandarin. Beijing-native mother Yan was always keen to imprint Chinese culture and values on her daughter having emigrated to the States and raising her in San Francisco.
出生于美国的谷爱凌今年18岁，能说一口流利的英语和普通话。母亲出生于北京，移民美国后在旧金山抚养女儿长大，她一直热衷于将中国文化和价值观传递给女儿。
Aside from the past two pandemic-ridden years, they have been returning to China every summer since Gu was a child. Her mixed-race appearance would gain attention from the locals – which upset her at first – but she has since embraced both cultures under the mantra “I feel Chinese in China, and American in America”.
除了过去的疫情肆虐的两年，从谷爱凌还是个孩子的时候开始，他们就每年夏天都会回到中国。她的混血儿长相会引起当地人的注意——一开始这让她很不高兴——但她后来接受了这两种文化，并信奉“在中国我就是中国人，在美国我就是美国人”。
Gu is also proudly bearing the flag for Chinese females in a sport that is heavily dominated by men. Though she still sees herself as a minority in the sport, she hopes to use it as a force to unite different cultures.
在这项由男性主导的运动中，谷爱凌自豪地为中国女性举起了旗帜。尽管她仍然认为在这项运动中自己属于少数群体，但她希望将其作为一种力量来团结不同的文化。
,
