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Eileen Gu released a statement on social media Monday reflecting on her controversial decision to compete for Team China despite being born and raised in the United States
Gu’s statement linked the decision back to her passion for promoting women’s sports and encouraging young girls to play sports.
“I gave my first speech about women in sports and Title IX when I was 11 years old. I talked about being the only girl on my ski team, and despite going to an all-girls school from Monday to Friday, I became best friends with my teammates on the weekend through the common language of sports,” Gu wrote on Instagram.
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Silver medalist Eileen Gu of China poses for photos after the award ceremony of the freestyle skiing women’s freeski big air event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Livigno, Italy, February 16, 2026. (Photo by Wang Peng/Xinhua via Getty Images) (Wang Peng/Xinhua via Getty Images)
“At the same time, I was made painfully aware of the lack of representation – by the age of 9, I felt like I somehow represented all women every time I stepped into the terrain park. Landing Tricks was about more than progression … it was about disproving the derisive implication of what it meant to ‘ski like a girl’.”
Gu went on to express gratitude for the one season she competed for the United States
“When I was 15, I announced my decision to compete for China. By that time I had spent one season on the US team and had been lucky enough to meet my heroes in person. I am forever grateful for that season and continue to maintain a close relationship with the team. I had spent every summer in China since I was 8 years old setting up trampoline and dry hill summer camps, so I knew from kids to 7-year-olds to 7-year-olds. The industry was small, I felt like I knew everyone,” she added.
“Skiing for Team China meant the opportunity to uplift others through the sport’s universal culture and to introduce freeskiing to hundreds of millions of people who had never heard of it, especially with the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics around the corner.”
Gu’s statement ended by acknowledging that some people “don’t understand” her decision to compete for China over the United States, while insisting that the choice maximized the impact she wanted to have.
“I can look back now, at 22, and tell 12-year-old Eileen that there are now terrain parks full of little girls who will never doubt their place in the sport. I can tell 15-year-old me that there are now millions of girls who have started skiing since then, in China and worldwide,” Gu wrote.
“Many people will not understand or believe that I made a decision to make the greatest amount of positive impact on the world stage that I could, at this age, given my interests and passions. Three golds and six medals later, I can confidently say that once a dream, it is now a reality.”
Gu has become a target for global criticism at the Olympics for her decision to represent China while remaining silent on the country’s alleged human rights abuses.
In an interview with Time magazine, Gu was asked about her thoughts on China’s alleged persecution of Uighurs and other Turkic Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.
“I didn’t do the research. I don’t think it’s my business. I don’t want to make big claims on my social media,” Gu replied.
“I’m just more of a skeptic when it comes to data in general. … So it’s not like I can read an article and say, ‘Oh, well, that must be the truth.’ I have to have a ton of evidence. I might have to go to the location, maybe talk to 10 primary source people who are at a location and have experienced life there.
“Then I have to go out and see pictures. I have to listen to recordings. I have to think about how history affects it. Then I have to read books about how politics affects it. This is a lifelong quest. It’s irresponsible to ask me to be a mouthpiece for any agenda.”
More controversy surrounding Gu erupted after The The Wall Street Journal reported that Gu and another American-born athlete who now competes for China were paid a combined $6.6 million by the Beijing Municipal Sports Bureau in 2025.
Gu is the highest paid Winter Olympic athlete in the world and earn an estimated $23 million by 2025 alone due to partnerships with Chinese companies including the Bank of China and Western companies.
Her alignment with China led to criticism from many Americans at the Olympics, including Vice President JD Vance.
“I certainly think that someone who grew up in the United States and enjoyed our education system, the freedoms and liberties that make this country a great place, I would hope they would compete with the United States,” Vance said in an interview on Pakinomist’ “The Story with Martha MacCallum.”
Later, when Gu was asked if she feels “like a bit of a punching bag for a certain part of American politics at the moment,” she said she does.
“I do,” she said. “So many athletes are competing for another country… People only have a problem with me doing it because they kind of lump China into this monolithic entity and they just hate China. So it’s not really about what they think it’s about.
“And also because I’m winning. If I didn’t do well, I think they probably wouldn’t care and that’s ok with me. People are entitled to their opinions.”
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Silver medalist Eileen Gu of China attends the freestyle skiing prize ceremony for the women’s freeski big air event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Livigno, Italy, on February 16, 2026. (Hongxiang/Xinhua via Getty Images)
Gu has claimed she was “physically assaulted” for the decision.
“The police were called. I’ve had death threats. I’ve had my dorm robbed,” Gu told The Athletic.
“I’ve been through some things as a 22-year-old that I really think no one should ever have to endure, ever.”
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