Eileen Gu, a top freestyle skier and Olympic medalist, shared her thoughts on the challenges of staying at the top of her sport. She emphasizes a personal motto that helps her stay focused: "I train like I've never won, and I compete like I've never lost." This mindset keeps her motivated and prevents complacency. Gu, who has won three gold and three silver medals, believes that while winning is hard, maintaining success is even tougher. She focuses on her mistakes during training, which helps her improve, but when competing, she switches to a confident mindset, telling herself that she is the best. She also mentioned that being overly confident can hinder performance, so she carefully separates her training and competition mentalities to avoid stress. Gu has learned to manage competition nerves by viewing them as excitement, a tip she received from her high school coach. Overall, her approach combines self-criticism in training with a strong, confident attitude during competitions, which helps her perform at her best.
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