A California-born skier is drawing harsh criticism for spurning Team USA to compete for China in the Beijing Olympics.
At just 18 years old, freestyle skier Eileen Gu is one of China’s biggest medalist hopefuls in the 2022 Winter Olympics despite the fact that she was born and raised in the United States.
Gu has drawn criticism for her 2019 decision to switch from Team USA to Team China, the birthplace of her mother, though she was born in San Francisco and competed for years as an American. Now, the Olympian is set to compete in three freestyle skiing events for China in the coming weeks.
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“I am proud of my heritage, and equally proud of my American upbringings. The opportunity to help inspire millions of young people where my mom was born, during the 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Gu said on Instagram in 2019. “Through skiing, I hope to unite people, promote common understanding, create communication, and forge friendships between nations.”
Mike Hanley, head of school at Wy’East Mountain Academy in Oregon, who has coached several Olympic skiers, including Nico Porteous, said that he understands why she chose to represent China over the U.S.
“The Olympics is the greatest show on earth & just like any show there are stars & there are supporting cast,” Hanley wrote in an email to the Washington Examiner. “Eileen is now i[n] a position to be the Tony Hawk, Kelly Slater & Shaun White of China by being the face of all action sports for the biggest country in the world.”
Hanley pointed to Olympians such as David Wise, who has “been forced to sit in the shadows” as other athletes get more media attention in the U.S.
“It is important for all of the athletes to strike while the iron is hot & China is pretty hot these days,” he added.
Several countries, including the U.S., have declared they would not send diplomatic delegations over what they said were human rights violations by the Chinese government.
“It is not my place to judge, but Eileen is from California, not from China, and her decision [to ski for China] seems opportunistic,” former Winter X Games gold medalist Jen Hudak told the New York Post.
Hudak added that Gu might not be the skier she is now without the “premier training” she had access to in the U.S.
In 2019, U.S. Ski & Snowboard parted amicably with the skier, saying that they were “proud” of the role they had in helping her dream come true and wish her luck in the future, according to a statement.
Gu, who has an American father, has gone on to place on the podium several times since 2019 and in 2021, became the first woman to land a double cork 1440, according to her Olympic bio.
It’s unclear if Gu has renounced her U.S. citizenship, as China law does not allow dual citizenship, according to the Dual Citizen report. Under the law, anyone with at least one Chinese national parent qualifies for citizenship.
Gu, who speaks fluent Mandarin, has spent many of her summers in Beijing but lived in California and attended school there, according to the New York Times.
The skier is also set to attend school at Stanford University this fall, the outlet reported.
Gu is not the only person born in the U.S. to compete for rival countries. Figure skater Zhu Yi will represent the People’s Republic of China, although she was born in California, according to an article on the official Olympics page.
Of the 25 hockey players on China’s roster for men’s hockey, 18 were born or grew up in North America, including goaltender Jeremy Smith, according to the Associated Press.
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The U.S. Ski & Snowboard and the Chinese Olympic Committee team did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
