American-born skier Eileen Gu made waves when she competed for China instead of the United States in the 2022 Winter Olympics. Now she’s pushing Team USA as the U.S. makes its bid to host the 2030 or 2034 Winter Games in Salt Lake City.
Gu, who is from San Francisco, took home two gold medals and a silver for China at the Beijing Games in February.
The extreme sports star faced accusations of betrayal when she opted not to compete for her home country and has refused to answer questions about if she still has her U.S. citizenship, renounced it, or if she has dual nationality, which, as Vice reported, China does not recognize. For its part, China’s state-run media has never raised the issue and has welcomed the medals she won, NBC News noted.
Through it all, Gu raked in tens of millions of dollars in endorsement deals, and she has made it clear that she does not care about questions of her loyalty.
“Here’s the thing. I’m not trying to keep anyone happy,” she told reporters in Beijing in February. “I’m an 18-year-old girl out here living my best life.”
Now she has accepted the role of ambassador for her home country’s bid to host an upcoming Olympics. The athlete and model announced her new position during the Time100 Summit last week, telling the audience the move is a chance to “use winter sport to connect people.”
“Salt Lake specifically wants to become a global destination for athletes everywhere to come train there, and they want to incorporate 15 new countries into the Winter Olympics,” she told Time. “I think that’s something that’s really beautiful, and I’ve always stood for that, and so I’m really honored to be a part of the whole thing.”
Fraser Bullock, president and CEO of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games, lavished praise on the 18-year-old Gu’s efforts to get the Olympics stateside.
“Having somebody with Eileen’s fantastic profile worldwide, particularly with the youth, is just a dream come true for us,” Bullock told Time.
Immediately following the announcement of her ambassadorship, Gu again came under attack with accusations of betrayal, but this time from China. According to Insider, news of her decision to help the U.S. was met with derision on the Chinese social media platform Weibo.
“When she earns money in China, she’s Chinese, and when she earns money in the US, she’s American,” one poster wrote.
Another asked, “Which country is she really from?”
One commenter offered her some professional advice: “With this attitude of playing both sides, she is better off as a politician.”
Her supporters have said that the fact that Gu is part Chinese — her mother is from Beijing, and her father is from the U.S. — has made her a good bridge between the two nations.
Gu would not commit to whether she would compete for the U.S. in Salt Lake City if her efforts to get the Olympics there prove successful.