Gu began to make her first impact at the age of sixteen, when she took the discus title at the 2009 Australian Youth Olympic Festival.
[4] The focus of her 2011 season was the Chinese City Games and she was the shot put runner-up behind Guo Tianqian, who was the world youth champion that year.
[10] Gu, dropping the shot put to focus on discus throwing instead, placed herself among the senior elite in the 2013 season.
[11] She travelled to compete in Germany in May and the 20-year-old surprised with a large throw of 67.86 m (222 ft 7+1⁄2 in), raising her to second on the seasonal lists behind the dominant Sandra Perković.
[12][13] She earned her first senior selection for China as a result, but at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics she failed to register a valid mark and dropped out at the qualifying stage.