Eileen Gu has sent a message to her critics in the United States while opening up on her decision to represent China in skiing instead of the country that she grew up in.
The 22-year-old Gu’s choice to compete for the country of her mother’s birth was a huge source of scrutiny during the Winter OIympics. Vice President JD Vance even criticized her decision.
‘Somebody who grew up in the United States of America, who benefited from our education system, from the freedoms and liberties that make this country a great place, I would hope they would want to compete with the United States of America,’ the Vice President said in a Fox interview.
‘So, I will root for American athletes and I think part of that is people who identify themselves as Americans. That’s who I am rooting for this Olympics.’
Gu, who grew up in California and is a Stanford University student, became the most decorated freestyle skier in Olympic history at the recent Milan Games with a tally of six medals.
And in a lengthy social media post on Monday reflecting on her time in Italy, she also addressed those who questioned why she wasn’t skiing for the US.
Eileen Gu’s decision to ski for China was scrutinized deeply in the United States
Vice president JD Vance was even critical of Gu, 22, during the Winter Olympics
‘When I was 15, I announced my decision to compete for China,’ Gu wrote on Instagram. ‘At the time, I had spent one season on the US team, and had been lucky enough to meet my heroes in person.
‘I am forever grateful for that season, and continue to maintain a close relationship with the team.
‘I had spent every summer in China since I was 8 setting up summer camps on trampoline and dry slope for kids and adults, ranging from 7 to 47 years old, so I knew the industry was tiny. I felt like I knew everyone.
‘Skiing for Team China meant the opportunity to uplift others through the universal culture of sport, and to introduce freeskiing to hundreds of millions of people who had never heard of it, especially with the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics around the corner.’
And she insisted that it is not a decision she regrets now, as one of the most successful Olympians in sporting history.
She continued: ‘I can look back now, at 22, and tell 12 year old Eileen that there are now terrain parks full of little girls, who will never doubt their place in the sport.
‘I can tell 15 year old me that there are now millions of girls who have started skiing since then, in China and worldwide.
‘A lot of people won’t understand or believe that I made a decision to create the greatest amount of positive impact on the world stage that I could, at this age, given my interests and passions.
Gu has insisted that she has no regrets over the decision she made when she was younger
‘Three golds and six medals later, I can confidently say what was once a dream is now a reality.’
But Gu has been branded ‘shameful’ by conservative commentators for representing China – seen as a ‘sports-washing’ coup for America’s Communist adversary.
China has leveraged Gu’s glamorous, Western-educated image to deflect international condemnation over the repression of Uyghur Muslims and the dismantling of democratic freedoms in Hong Kong.
Gu has been physically attacked on her college campus, received death threats and is relentlessly pressed by the media on geopolitics.
‘Things don’t get easier,’ she told The Athletic during the Games. ‘You just get stronger.’
She added: ‘It’s hard. I’ve gone through some things as a 22-year-old that I really think no one should ever have to endure, ever.’
