Champion skier Eileen Gu has hit back at critics who say she is not fully committed to China by citing the 39 medals she has won for the country over the past five years. Born in San Francisco in the United States, the 20-year-old freestyle skier, who originally held US citizenship, announced in June 2019 that she had become a Chinese citizen and that she would represent China in future competitions. The decision marked the beginning of the long-lasting controversy.
At the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Gu made history by securing two golds and one silver medal for China. However, she has come under fire from Chinese netizens who have accused her of being “unpatriotic” and labelled her “two-faced”. In an Instagram post where Gu shared her performance at the 2023 World Cup in Calgary, Canada, she was accused of deliberately obscuring the nationality of Chinese skier Zhang Kexin with text and emojis.
This was seen as downplaying Zhang’s achievements and promoting herself as the only top skier in China. Gu even cropped medalist Zhang out of a celebration photo of winners she posted. In March, when Gu visited the White House she shared photos of herself with US Vice President Kamala Harris on her Instagram account, but not on Chinese social media platforms.
This fuelled accusations that she was “two-faced”. Then, earlier this month, as the Paris Olympics concluded, rumours surfaced about Gu’s intimate public interactions with French Olympic swimming champion Leon M.