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Two-time Olympic gold medalist and freestyle skiing star Eileen Gu will again compete for China instead of the United States at next month’s Winter Olympics, insisting the United States “already has the representation” despite earlier backlash over her decision.
California-born Gu faced criticism in 2022 for her decision to represent China at the Beijing Olympics, where she won gold in the women’s freeski big air and halfpipe and silver in the women’s freeski slopestyle.
Eileen Gu of China celebrates winning the final race of the freeski slopestyle at the Laax Open World Championships on January 17, 2026 in Laax, Switzerland. (Andreas Becker/Keystone via AP)
In an interview with Time Magazine, Gu said her decision was based more on her ability to inspire participation in the sport, which was not traditionally popular in China.
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“The United States already has the representation,” Gu said. “I like building my own pond.”
Time also noted in the interview that “[Gu] insists that the potential to earn more representing Chinese companies did not cross her mind. “I’m glad there’s enough money in the sport now that people think it’s a consideration,” she says.
Gu, whose mother is Chinese, grew up in San Francisco, but she said before the 2022 Winter Games that she estimates she has spent at least a quarter of her life in China.
Eileen Gu of China competes during the final race of the freeski slopestyle at the World Championships at the Laax Open in Laax, Switzerland, on January 17, 2026. (Andreas Becker/Keystone via AP)
US-BORN OLYMPIC FREESKIER EILEEN GU DODGES CITIZENSHIP QUESTIONS AFTER WINNING GOLD FOR CHINA
Questions about her citizenship status were a major point of contention during her previous Olympic outing because the Chinese government does not allow dual citizenship, meaning the California native would have had to give up her US citizenship to do so.
She dodged numerous questions at the time about whether she enjoyed her American citizenship. Time noted that Gu “fell[d] to engage in the question of citizenship,” and that there was no indication that she had renounced her citizenship.
“I don’t really see how that’s relevant,” she said.
Gold medalist Eileen Gu of Team China celebrates during the women’s freeski halfpipe flower ceremony at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou, China, on February 18, 2022. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
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Gu, 22, enters Italy as the heavy favorite to defend his titles. She picked up her record-extending 20th career World Cup victory and her fourth in slopestyle with a win at the Laax Open in Switzerland last week.
