17
mean that Gu supports Beijing’s crackdown
in Xinjiang, which has led several nations,
including the U.S., to stage a diplomatic boy-
cott of the Games? “I don’t know,” says Gal-
lagher, “but her decision seems tone-deaf
given the global condemnation of China’s
policies.”
Some experts say that it was never going
to be possible to avoid politics at the Olym-
pics, given the state of relations between
the two global powers. Washington and Bei-
jing are at loggerheads over everything from
trade and technology to maritime navigation
and the status of Taiwan.
Gu has tried her best to straddle the geo-
political divide. “I grew up spending 25%
to 30% of my time in China,” she said on
Feb. 8, when asked by reporters if she had
renounced her U.S. passport. “I’m American
when I’m in the U.S. and Chinese when I’m
in China.” But her eff orts have done little to
tamp down the controversy.
“Gu is being caught in the wider politi-
cal cross fi re between the U.S. and China
in ways that other athletes are not,” says
Jules Boykoff , a sports and politics expert
at Pacifi c University. “Her decision to com-
pete for China has thrust her into a political
fi restorm.”
POLITICS
Eileen Gu skis into
a global standoff
BY AMY GUNIA
COMPETING FOR CHINA ON FEB. 8, THE
U.S.-born freestyle skier Eileen Gu landed
a spectacular left double-1620 with safety
grab on her fi nal run to win gold. She’d
never pulled off the daring trick in competi-
tion before—much less in front of a global
audience—and it instantly made her one of
the Games’ biggest stars.
Excitement was so great over Gu’s fi rst
medal that chatter about it temporarily
crashed the internet in China, where the
18-year-old has been nicknamed Snow Prin-
cess and has graced local editions of Harper’s
Bazaar and Vogue.
Not everyone is cheering her on, however.
Born to a U.S. father and a Chinese mother,
Gu spent a few seasons competing at major
events for the U.S., where she was raised and
still lives. But in 2019, at age 15, she decided
that she would change national affi liation
and compete for China in 2022. That switch
has prompted critics in the U.S. to call her an
opportunist—even a traitor.
Mary Gallagher, a professor of political
science at the University of Michigan, says
that the backlash against Gu was to be ex-
pected. “When an athlete chooses a nation-
ality, then there’s more focus on the choice
and, in this case, on her timing.” Does it
‘I’m American when
I’m in the U.S. and Chinese
when I’m in China.’
—EILEEN GU
Team China freestyle skier Gu fl ies the fl ag after medaling on Feb. 15
SPEEDSKATING
BOBSLED
OLDER ATHLETES
FREESTYLE SKIING
CHEN: HARRY HOW—GETTY IMAGES; GU: TIM CLAYTON—CORBIS/GETTY IMAGES; GETTY IMAGES (5)
