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American-born Team China skier Eileen Gu commented on Team USA skater Alysa Liu’s historic gold medal in the women’s freestyle final Thursday at the Cortina Winter Olympics in Milan.
After Liu became the first American women’s skater to win an individual Olympic medal in 20 years and the first to win a gold in 24 years, she made a celebratory Instagram post.
“These are for you,” Liu captioned a photo of her gold medal and the U.S. team’s gold.
ALYSA LIU VS EILEEN GU — HOW TWO CHINESE AMERICAN STARS WON ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF AN OLYMPIC PROXY WAR
Gold medalist Alysa Liu of the United States poses for a photo during the women’s singles figure skating medal ceremony at the Milan Ice Skating Arena during the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics February 19, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
Gu commented on the post and celebrated Liu’s victory.
“YESSSSSS,” Gu wrote in the comment section.
The two Chinese-American stars have been relentlessly compared and contrasted on social media this Olympics.
Both athletes are children of immigrants who came to the United States from China. But many fans and critics have been quick to point out the contrast between Liu’s story, a tale of American loyalty by the child of an immigrant, and Gu, who chose to compete for Team China when she was 15 years old despite living in California.
Arthur Liu raised Alysa and her siblings in Oakland. Yan Gu raised Eileen just across the bay in San Francisco.
Their paths parted in 2019.
The Chinese government launched a program to recruit foreign-born athletes, primarily of Chinese heritage, to boost competitiveness, particularly for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and soccer, according to The China Project.
Gu and Liu were top recruiting targets.
Gu traded his red, white and blue for red and gold. Just months after competing in her first Freestyle Ski World Cup for the United States in January 2019, she competed for China for the first time in June of that year after requesting a change of nationality with the International Ski Federation.
Silver medalist Eileen Gu of China attends the freestyle skiing awards 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)
The Lius remained loyal to Team USA.
US OLYMPIAN ALYSA LIU WAS ONCE TARGETED BY CHINESE SPIES – HERE’S WHAT SHE HAS TO SAY ABOUT IT
Arthur was reportedly “not open to persuasion” to have Alysa compete for China, according to The Economist.
Both athletes competed at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, Gu representing China and Liu representing the United States
Gu won two gold medals and a silver in freeskiing and went home to California as a new global household name for his success.
Liu finished sixth in women’s figure skating, then took a temporary early retirement before returning to the sport in 2024.
But in 2026, Liu is the only one with any gold after helping the U.S. win team gold and her historic individual gold on Thursday. Perhaps she would have won gold if Gu represented the United States.
Liu landed all of her jumps and smiled during the individual final before breaking into a flamboyant celebration after she finished.
She shouted, “That’s what I’m talking about!” and “Holy s—!” as she celebrated with her team. She finished with a total score of 226.79, a free skate score of 150.20 and a short program score of 76.59. It was her season-best free skate score.
OLYMPIANS SPEAK IN DEFENSE OF EILEEN GU AMID CRITICISM TO COMPETE FOR CHINA OVER US
But Gu has only won two silvers so far in Italy.
An interaction with a reporter on Tuesday went viral after Gu responded to a question that she has so far won two silver medals instead of gold, suggesting the question came from a “ridiculous perspective.”
“I’m the most decorated female freeskier in history. I think that’s an answer in itself,” Gu said when asked if she saw her two medals as “earned silver” or “lost gold”.
“How do I say it? Winning a medal at the Olympics is a life-changing experience for any athlete. To do it five times is exponentially harder because every medal is equally difficult for me, but everyone else’s expectations go up, right?
“The two medals lost situation, to be completely honest with you, I think is kind of a ridiculous perspective to take. I’m showing my best skiing. I’m doing things that have literally never been done before. So I think it’s more than good enough, but thank you.”
Gu will have one last chance to win gold in the women’s halfpipe final, considered her strongest event, on Sunday. The event will take place a day after it was originally planned due to intense snow in the area.
Gu lost almost any chance of a gold medal after he fell in the halfpipe qualification on Thursday. But she recovered in her second race to earn a place in the final.
Gu has had to compete under the pressure of enormous global scrutiny in response to her decision to compete for China seven years ago.
Gu was asked if she feels “like a bit of a punching bag for a certain part of American politics” after her contest on Thursday.
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Silver medalist Eileen Gu of China poses for photos after the freestyle skiing awards ceremony for the women’s freeski big air event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Livigno, Italy, on February 16, 2026. (Wang Peng/Xinhua via Getty Images)
“I do,” she said, according to USA Today. “So many athletes compete for another country … People only have a problem with me doing that 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.”
