People Are Very Confused About Why American-born Olympian Eileen Gu Is Competing For China

Chinese freestyle skier Eileen Gu took gold in the Shougang Big Air event on Monday at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, unleashing a deluge of commentary from angry political analysts. This controversy is because Gu was born and raised in San Francisco, which would make her an American citizen.

Eileen Gu's reaction to her would-be gold-medal-winning run is EVERYTHING. #WinterOlympics @OnHerTurf pic.twitter.com/ORjOtXHBAV

— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) February 8, 2022

Gu, 18, was born in 2003 to an American father and Chinese mother in the United States. In 2019, she requested a change of nation with the International Ski Federation so that she could compete for China at the 2022 games. In an Instagram post at the time, she wrote:

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 to help to promote the sport I love. Through skiing, I hope to unite people, promote common understanding, create communication, and forge friendships between nations. If I can help to inspire one young girl to break a boundary, my wishes will have come true. 🇺🇸 🇨🇳 ❤️

Gu's decision has made many Americans, particularly in the political punditry sphere, quite upset that an American-born athlete has chosen to compete for China, given the geopolitical tensions between the two nations. Tucker Carlson ran a segment on her, proffering the opinion one might expect from the Fox News host, while politicians like Claire McCaskill have questioned Gu's motives.

Last night on Tucker. Eileen Gu is symbolic of American corporations – too many – that have sold out for China.
pic.twitter.com/ZAbK4rjxcY

— Will Cain (@willcain) February 3, 2022

I don’t get it. And never will. I think it is wrong for an American to compete for China. China is represses free speech, is well known for their human rights violations. Did she abandon her US citizenship or not? (China does not have dual citizenship) ugh. #EileenGu

— Claire McCaskill (@clairecmc) February 8, 2022

I hope Eileen Gu likes living in China, what a traitor. Born in San Francisco, CA snd competes for Chinese money. Get out!

— Sheena (@TX_Latina6969) February 3, 2022

There r people in China arrested n sentenced simply for using vpn to read news from west media or tweet their opinion.
But Eileen Gu just brashes away all the brutal reality for ordinary Chinese and easily sildes into CCP's propaganda.

What a shame！so privileged like a 外宾 pic.twitter.com/SYyPUXfu2K

— 巴丢草 Badiucao💉💉 (@badiucao) February 8, 2022

Eileen Gu was born in America, grew up in San Francisco, is about to attend Stanford, and just won a gold medal in the Olympics for a country committing a genocide.

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 8, 2022

The backlash to Gu has been equally met with cheers from the Asian community, with many pointing out that the criticism Gu faces proves why an Asian-American athlete might elect to compete for another country.

U.S. media are doing a great job illustrating why Eileen Gu would want to compete for China and not the U.S.

Small piece of advice: it's not by relentlessly insulting the girl that dumped you that you make yourself attractive… pic.twitter.com/QUCvBtmWx2

— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) February 7, 2022

Americans: We may be a bunch of genocidal maniacs, but unlike the Chinese, we have freedom to decide what we want to do.

Eileen Gu: I'm going to compete in the Olympics for China.

Americans: Nooo. Not like that. Traitor ch*nk b*tch. pic.twitter.com/4uj38wXaBy

— Suspended (@SuspendedRobot) February 4, 2022

Go back to China!!#EileenGu: Alright then

… …
You traitor!!
🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/6xIuTMnkXt

— Adam Zahi (@Eazzayyy) February 5, 2022

My Chinese American friend on Murican meltdown over #EileenGu winning gold for China in #BeijingWinterOlympics: pic.twitter.com/ct6hFeL96W

— Carl Zha (@CarlZha) February 9, 2022

For her part, Gu seems unbothered by the criticism judging from her responses so far.

I’m a fan of #EileenGu ❤️ pic.twitter.com/mM1gKZSAr3

— SUNTAN (@sundriedcorn) February 4, 2022

"If people don't like me that's their loss, they'll never win the Olympics." Eileen Gu respond to people who criticize her. That's the confidence of a world champion! LOVE HER so much! pic.twitter.com/5E0aw8yhaP

— Meng Zhe (@SXiaochuan258) February 8, 2022