Eileen Gu is one of the biggest stars at the Winter Olympics in Milano-Cortina. However, the US-born freestyle skier competes for China and not her home country.
Why?
The two-time Olympics champion does not care about the backlash. It has nothing to do with politics.
Who is Eileen Gu?
Gu is a freestyle skier who competes in halftime, slopestyle and big air events. Forbes listed her as the second-highest earning female athlete in the world in 2023, just one year after she became the youngest Olympic champion in her sport. The San Francisco-born action sports star won gold medals in big air and halfpipe at the 2022 Games in Beijing. She also won a silver medal in slopestyle.
Eileen Gu burst onto the scene at the X Games in 2021 with gold medals in Slopestyle and Superpipe. She established that it was not just a fluke with gold medals in Halfpipe and Slopestyle at the World Championships that same year.
Gu has since kept the momentum rolling, stacking double-digit wins in all of her main events.
Now 22 years old, the 5-foot-9 skier is expected to podium three times at the Milano-Cortina Games. Reaching the podium in just one event would make Gu the first athlete to win more than three freestyle skiing Olympic medals. And if we’re being honest, anything less than gold would be disappointing.
Freestyle skiing competition will start on Saturday, Feb. 7. It will conclude on Saturday, Feb. 21.
Gu is currently scheduled compete on the following days:
- Women’s slopestyle: Saturday, Feb. 7 and Monday, Feb. 9
- Women’s big air: Saturday, Feb. 14 and Monday, Feb. 16
- Women’s halfpipe: Thursday, Feb. 19 and Saturday, Feb. 21
All of her events will stream live on Peacock.
Why does she compete for China?
Eileen Gu was born and raised in San Francisco, California. She is an American who began skiing at the age of three in Lake Tahoe. She attended Stanford University and currently lives in the United States.
However, Gu competes for China at the Winter Olympics.
The reason for her decision stems not from politics or finances. Potential earnings did not cross her mind when she first made the switch about seven years ago, even though she currently holds a number of lucrative endorsement deals with Chinese brands. Nor did politics. She was only 15. It wasn’t a thought.
Gu grew up as a second-generation Chinese immigrant. Her maternal grandfather was the chief electrical engineer of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development. Her mother received a master’s degree in chemical engineering at Peking University.
Not only does she have familial ties, Gu would spend her summers in Beijing as a child. She feels a deep bond with her heritage and made the decision to compete for China to honor her mother.
“The U.S. already has the representation,” Gu told Time Magazine. “I like building my own pond.”
Eileen Gu’s decision was met with backlash in the United States because China does not recognize dual citizenship, which typically requires athletes to renounce their original nationality. That, and people simply believe an American should represent America. Are they not grateful?
Gu has repeatedly declined to confirm whether she gave up her American passport because she doesn’t see how it’s relevant. She also stays out of the geopolitical controversy.
Gu believes sports should be a way to unite people from different backgrounds, not a tool for division. It is not her place to comment on trade tariffs or human rights issues. Her focus is only on skiing.
“It’s irresponsible to ask me to be the mouthpiece for any agenda,” she said.
Fair enough. Like it or not, Eileen Gu’s results at the Winter Olympics in Milano-Cortina will count for China and not the United States.