Olympic skier Elieen Gu has had a setback in her return from injury after being involved in an accident while training in New Zealand.

The two-time Winter Olympics gold medallist was reportedly taken to hospital in Christchurch at the weekend after training at the Cardrona Alpine Resort near Wānaka.

Posting on social media platform Weibo, the 21-year-old said she had been involved in a “very terrible accident due to human error”.

“I hope I can return to the snow soon, but I’m still waiting for confirmation from the expert team.”

The South China Morning Post reported Gu appeared to be seriously injured and was taken to hospital on a stretcher, according to witnesses.

The Chinese representative had not long been back on the slopes after an injury suffered during the X Games in Aspen in January. That setback forced her to withdraw from the big air and halfpipe competitions during the event.

Born in the United States, Gu switched her allegiance in order to represent China in the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022.

There, she won gold medals in the big air and halfpipe competitions, and was second behind Switzerland’s Mathilde Gremaud in the slopestyle event.

There has been speculation a fan was involved in the latest injury, but little detail has been shared about what happened.

Gu was the second-highest-paid female athlete in 2024, according to sports industry news site Sportico, making US$22 million ($37.8m) – the vast majority of that coming from endorsements.

She has also featured on the Time 100 and Forbes’ 30 Under 30 lists.