Throughout the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, Gu Ailing, or Eileen Gu known for many Westerners, has become a phenomenon in China. Thus far, she has captured gold medals in women's freeski big air, freeski halfpipe, and silver in slopestyle, as well as raked in over 40 endorsement deals with the likes of Cadillac, Tiffany and Co. and Victoria's Secret. She has become a super idol for millions of Chinese teenagers. But on the other side of the Pacific, some Americans don’t see things quite the same way. Gu was misjudged as a symbol of China’s rising power, encountering verbal violence and receiving hate messages on social media.    

In any case, this is unfair to an 18-year-old. Like many top-level athletes, she is free to be a naturalized player. Gu was born in the U.S. and in 2019 made a conscious choice to come out for Team China during the Beijing 2022 Games. This appears, by all means, to be rather reasonable given her mother is Chinese and Gu has spent at least a quarter of her life in China. 

More importantly here, are the realistic—and economic—deliberations underlying her decision. If Gu goes down the ramp for Team USA, there’s no doubt she can still win gold medals, but she’ll never get the coverage China is now giving her. The latter’s winter sports market used to be barren land and Gu wants to fill the gap. The pursuit of personal values: isn’t this supposed to be a big part of the American dream, which is also shared by the rest of the world? 

Athletic abilities aside, the 18-year-old undoubtedly has many commendable qualities, but the one thing that really stands out is her being the integration of East and West, yet another reason why she is so popular with Chinese youths. Gu has always stated she wants to be a bridge between China and the U.S., adding, "I feel like sport is really a way that we can unite people." When asked about her current citizenship status, she replied, "It's something that doesn't have to be related to nationality. It's not something that can be used to divide people. We're all out here together, pushing the human limit." 

This is the mission of Olympic spirit which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship. “Every rise, every fall, every victory, we‘re in it together,” highlighted by the film released by the International Olympic Committee at the opening ceremony on February 4. 

"I'm not trying to keep everyone happy, I'm an 18-year-old girl out here living my best life.” Gu’s success does not need to be over-analyzed, but to some extent, her success belongs to both China and the U.S. 

Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon  

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