American skier, Victoria’s Secret model competing for Communist China in Olympics
She could be America’s next Olympic darling — a stunning 18-year-old skier who signed with Victoria’s Secret and plans to attend Stanford now that she has won for gold for China in Beijing.
Gu has inked more than 20 endorsement deals in China, including this one for JD.com, pictured on a billboard in Beijing. (Photo: Edward Chu/Reuters) _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
As Eileen Gu landed on the hard snow following her incredible 1620 — the first of her career — the American-born Chinese skier let out a scream of joy, knowing she had done just enough to win a gold medal in the women’s big air event.
But her first gold medal at the 2022 Beijing Olympics comes with a side of controversy.
Gu, born and raised in San Francisco, chose to compete for her mother’s home country of Communist China, during a time when relations between the U.S. and the communist nation are, at best, uneasy and at worst, hostile.
Following the win, Gu had to face the music regarding her U.S. citizenship status, but she was unwilling to give a straightforward answer.
“I’ve always been super outspoken about my gratitude to the U.S., especially the U.S. team,” Gu said when asked if she had to give up her U.S. citizenship to compete for China. “I feel as though they’ve helped me out so much in my development, they continue to support me. And same with the Chinese team. They’ve always been super supportive and they’ve helped me so much. And so in that sense, I think that that speaks volumes to the ability of sport to bridge the gap and to be a force for unity.”
China does not allow dual citizenship, meaning that Gu would have had to give up her U.S. citizenship in order to compete, or China made an exemption in order to allow Gu to compete on the Chinese Olympic roster.
“Yeah, um, first of all, I’m an 18-year old girl,” Gu said when pressed to answer. “I’m a kid. I haven’t even gone to college yet. I’m a pretty normal person . . .”
“If people don’t have a good heart, they won’t believe me, because they can’t empathize with people who do have a good heart,” she continued. “And so in that sense, I feel as though it’s a lot easier to block out the hate now. And also, they’re never going to know what it feels like to win an Olympic gold medal.”
She could be America’s next Olympic darling — a stunning 18-year-old skier who signed with Victoria’s Secret and plans to attend Stanford now that she has won for gold in Beijing for the tyrannical host country.
Others in the sport are questioning why Gu, an ultra-athletic freeskier and favorite to claim as many as three gold medals when the games begin Friday, would side with the host nation, which is accused of abusing muliple people groups and engaging in unfair trade policies worldwide.
“It is not my place to judge, but Eileen is from California, not from China, and her decision [to ski for China] seems opportunistic,” said Jen Hudak, a former Winter X Games gold medalist for the USA women’s team. “I can’t speak to what Eileen’s Chinese heritage means to her and she has every right to do what she believes is best for her career.
Gu is the first woman to pull off a tricky stunt that once seemed impossible for females to execute: a “1440 double cork,” shooting up a ramp and completing four 360-degree rotations. (Photo: Allen Gutierrez/Associated Press) _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
But “she became the athlete she is because she grew up in the United States, where she had access to premier training grounds and coaching that, as a female, she might not have had in China,” Hudak told America’s Conservative Voice. “I think she would be a different skier if she grew up in China.
“This makes me sad,” added Hudak, who retired in 2014 after knee injuries derailed her career. “It would be nice to see the medals going to America.”
Gu, a US citizen, made her decision with input from her Chinese mother, Yan, an outspoken “Tiger Mom,” and an American father who it is said prefers a low profile, said one of her former coaches.
“All roads to Eileen go through Yan,” said Mike Hanley, head of school at Wy’East Mountain Academy in Oregon, a training facility for Olympic skiers such as Nick Goepper and Alex Beaulieu-Marchand.
“Yan is very pleasant but one of the most intense human beings I have ever met in my life. She smiles and tells you how great you are. But then you find out, after the fact, what the requests are. She loves her daughter and wants her daughter to get priority.”
That would seem to indicate that Yan has never really adapted to her milquetoast husband’s homeland and is, perhaps, a Chinese operative. But there is definitely an economic incentive for her daughter Eileen as well.
In America, Gu’s sponsors include Red Bull, Cadillac, the Apple-owned Beats by Dre headphones and Victoria’s Secret. In the pages of Harper’s Bazaar, Gu modeled the lingerie brand’s active wear in an image that showed her flying through the air.
But those big-name sponsors are dwarfed by the deals being made in China, where the national broadcaster, CCTV, has described Gu as “the perfect child next door.” Others in China have dubbed her the “Snow Princess.”
So far, she’s inked more than 20 endorsement deals in her adopted homeland, signing with companies such as the Bank of China, China Mobile and milk company Mengniu. She is also the spokesperson for Luckin’ Coffee, the Starbucks of China. According to campaignasia.com, a single endorsement deal with the skier costs about $2.5 million.
“She is the golden star for the country with the fastest-growing economy,” Hanley said. “She can be the Tony Hawk of winter sports in China.”
Gu is not the first American to cross from West to East. Beverly Zhu and Ashley Lin, both figure skaters, were both born in the US and now compete for China. But neither is at Gu’s level in their sport.
Eileen Gu with driving force, mom Yan Gu. Her American dad is said to prefer a low profile. It was Yan who urged her daughter to compete for the nation that is the greatest socioeconomic and military threat to the U.S. (Photo: Eileen Gu’s Instagram account) _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Most people compete for other countries because they can’t make the American team,” Hudak said.
Gu’s talent is undeniable.
In November, at the Steamboat Freeski Big Air competition, she became the first woman to pull off a tricky stunt that once seemed impossible for females to execute: a “1440 double cork.” She shot up a ramp and into the sky, then completed four 360-degree rotations, before landing flat on her skis. A blown-away NBC announcer gushed that Gu “absolutely stomped the field.”
Freeskiing blends the gravity-defying acrobatics of snowboarding with the challenges of alpine racing. The event features the kinds of tricks, jumps and obstacles often seen in skateboarding competitions.
“She is the gold medal favorite,” said Hudak, noting that Gu will compete in three events in Beijing: big air, half-pipe and slopestyle.
“I don’t think anyone is at her level. I can see her getting medals in all three events this year.”
Sitting in the crowd to watch Gu win the gold medal was tennis star Peng Shuai. Peng, who publicly accused a senior CCP official of sexually assaulting her three years ago following a round of tennis, watched the event with International Olympics Committee president Thomas Bach.
On Monday, Peng denied accusing a high-ranking Chinese official of sexual assault and announced her retirement from competitive tennis in an interview with French newspaper L’Equipe.
“Sexual assault? I never said anyone had sexually assaulted me in any way,” said Peng when asked by L’Equipe. That is a direct contradiction of information she posted on her Twitter account
Her denial has certainly raised eyebrows, considering the tight control the CCP has over its citizens. But that doesn’t appear to bother Bach, who said he just happened to meet Peng at the event.
“I just met her here — she was here, sitting in the stadium,” Bach said afterward. “I had the opportunity to speak with a number of athletes from Switzerland and from Germany, the U.S., and there she was, sitting there.”
It is obvious from those remarks and the fact that Beijing is the only city in Olympic history to be awarded two Olympics games ― the other being the 2008 Summer Games ― in less than 20 years, that the IOC is complicit in promoting China despite it’s totalitarian regime. That Gu will be used for Chinese propaganda purposes is equally undeniable. It is unlikely that the most “woke” athlete in the U.S. Olympic stables would make the decision Gu has made.
That begs the question as to just how infiltrated the U.S. Olympic Committee is by the Chinese government, and demands an investigation into Yan Gu’s purpose in marrying a U.S. citizen and moving to the United States in the first place. If the Chinese are so active withing the U.S. in subverting a U.S. family, what more sinister and secretive actions have they undertaken?
Gu will have two more chances to add to her medal count, competing in the half-pipe and slopestyle at the Beijing games.
Mike Nichols is an advocate of the counterrevolution with a four-step plan to defeat Leftist Fascism: We Organize. We Stand. We Resist. We Fight. He is a regular contributor to several conservative news websites and has a regular blog and Facebook presence at Americas Conservative Voice-Facebook.