Eileen Gu and Alysa Liu were two of the most talked about athletes at the Olympics. Not only did they have similar success at the Milano-Cortina Games, they have similar stories.
However, Liu chose to represent the United States while Gu chose to represent China.
The former thinks critics of the latter are talking out of both sides of their mouth. They’re hypocrites!
Alysa Liu and Eileen Gu share a similar backstory.
Liu was born in Clovis, California, right outside of Fresno, but she later moved to Oakland at a young age. Gu was born and raised in San Francisco— just over the bridge.
They have known each other for a long time now, seven years or so.
Liu attends UCLA. Gu attends Stanford. Both athletes are of Chinese descent. Both athletes won gold medals at the Olympics. You get the idea. They are very much alike in a lot of ways.
There is of course one big difference between them.
Liu won her two gold medals for the United States. Gu won two silver medals and a gold medal for China.
Liu competes for Team USA because it is where she was born and raised. Her father also plays a big role in her affiliation. Arthur Liu, who is often subject to criticism for how he treated his daughter when she was young, is a political refugee who fled China to the U.S. after the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. He refused recruitment efforts by the Chinese government. His family was also targeted by a Chinese spying operation around the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, likely to prevent him from speaking out.
With all of that history in mind, Alysa Liu identifies with American values and supports her father’s fight for human rights. She is proud to represent the United States.
Eileen Gu went in the opposite direction. She decided at the age of 15 to honor her maternal lineage and to compete for China. Although her decision was not rooted in politics, it is political by nature.
There is also a financial element. Gu collects a monster paycheck from the Chinese government.
The 22-year-old skier again drew widespread backlash for her decision during this most recent Olympic cycle and was called a “traitor” to the United States. Gu is not at all like the other athletes who represent a country in which they do not live but she still couldn’t understand the criticism and felt like a “punching bag.”
Are her critics being hypocritical?
Alysa Liu was recently asked about her role in the ongoing political discourse during a conversation with the New York Times. Her response was one of surprise. I would imagine her naivety was intentional.
“Ooh, Am I?” she quipped.
Of course, the aforementioned political discourse also involved Eileen Gu. They present a stark contrast to one another with their decisions to (or not to) represent the United States.
Liu thinks the people who hate on Gu are actually in direct conflict with themselves.
“I think people are hypocritical for shaming her for representing China. So in my head it’s a bit hypocritical, because her mom is an immigrant. Y’all would have told her to go back to China. Now that they’re back in China, you’re mad. [Laughs] And it’s sport, it doesn’t matter what country we represent. Sport is sport, and she has a love for competition, she has love for the game. I think that’s all that matters. There’s no shame in going to where opportunity is.”
Of course, there is some incongruity to her comments because Gu actually went where the opportunity wasn’t. There is more opportunity for skiers in the United States.
Plus, she is not actually “back in China.” Gu lives and trains in the United States. She attends one of the most prestigious universities in the country. The only time she represents China is during competition.
Even still, Liu thinks the backlash toward Gu is overblown and hypocritical.
Do you agree or disagree? Let me know your thoughts at Grayson@brobible.com!