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Add NFL MVP Boomer Esiason to the list of Americans who are not fans of Eileen Gu.
Gu, the Olympic medal-winning skier who was born and raised in the United States but has represented China, her mother’s homeland, in international competition has again become the subject of debate after her performance in Milan Cortina.
The The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Gu and Zhu Yi, another American-born figure skater now competing for China, were paid $6.6 million by the Beijing Municipal Sports Bureau in 2025 to “strive for excellent results in qualifying for the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics.” In total, the two were reportedly paid nearly $14 million over the past three years.
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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)
That information was much to the chagrin of the former NFL quarterback.
“The Chinese government paid her a lot of money. It’s kind of funny that a communist country would pay a woman to be a propaganda capitalist,” Esiason said on the “Boomer and Gio” show Tuesday morning.
“She’s a very attractive woman and she’s extremely bright. She went to Stanford. But if you listen to her post-participation interviews, she’s insufferable. She is. It’s hard to listen to. But then again, it’s an individual sport where an individual person talks about herself, as opposed to talking about her teammates or the support she likes her, “if’.
Gold medalist Eileen Gu of China poses with her medals after winning the women’s freestyle skiing halfpipe final at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Livigno, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Esiason and his co-host, Gregg Gianotti, both scoffed at the fact that a reporter praised her for seemingly always having the right answers to questions.
“They didn’t ask her about the Chinese Communist government,” Esiason said. “But the thing about her is, I’ll say it, she’s unusually bright. She’s got her answers, she knows how she’s going to answer things, that’s for sure. But nobody’s really asked her a hard question.”
Already the most decorated freestyle skier in Olympic history, Gu took home a gold medal in her final event at the Olympics on Sunday. In the women’s freeski halfpipe event, Gu scored 94.75 – just 0.75 points better than her second run. No one came close to touching her mark.
Silver medalist Eileen Gu of Team People’s Republic of China smiles as she holds her faction skis and carries her national flag during the medal ceremony for the Women’s Freeski Big Air on day ten of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics at Livigno Snow Park on February 16, 2026 in Livigno, Italy. (Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
She finished her run at the Milan Cortina Games with three overall medals – gold in the halfpipe event and silver in big air and slopestyle. She has six medals on her resume.
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