Showered with internet-breaking love in China, gold medallist Eileen Gu has been met with an onslaught of criticism from the other side of the world for her decision to represent China and not the United States, where she was born and raised. When she took home gold on Tuesday in the freeski big air competition, her already-exploding Weibo presence crashed the platform temporarily as fans flooded it with celebratory messages. At the opposite end, the 18-year-old has been bombarded with questions unrelated to her sporting prowess, as visiting reporters asked her about her nationality and even her thoughts on tennis player Peng Shuai. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Eileen Gu :black_heart::rainbow::ice_cube::dragon_face: (@eileen_gu_) A commentary by online SLATE magazine which called Gu a “jerk” was one of many that sparked anger among her Chinese fans, but Gu herself is seemingly unfazed by the criticism. Living her best life When a reporter asked Gu after her triumph, how hard it was to “keep [both countries] happy” as a Chinese athlete with an American background, she said simply: “Here’s the thing – I’m not trying to keep anyone happy – I’m an 18-year-old girl out here living my best life.” Having coached children at a summer camp in China last year, she said: “I’m using my voice to create as much positive change as I can for the voices who will listen to me in an area that is personal and relevant to myself. “If other people don’t really believe that’s where I’m coming from, that just reflects that they do not have the empathy to empathise with a good heart, perhaps because they don’t share [my] morals,” she added. Olympics champion #EileenGu respond to haters "If people don't like me that's their loss, they'll never win the Olympics." Queen 👸🏽 pic.twitter.com/l0cWNJTCiU — Carl Zha (@CarlZha) February 8, 2022 Defending ‘really amazing’ Zhu Yi Figure skater Zhu Yi was met with criticism for two disappointing performances, before Weibo removed posts and comments containing content that violates guidelines. Like her senior Jin Boyang, Gu jumped to Zhu’s deference . “I think she is really amazing, just being able to even come to the Olympics is something that is really impressive, and facing a loss or pressure is part of sports,” she said. Gu also raised her voice to say that media coverage of such “abuse” had been exaggerated, saying: “As someone who actually uses Chinese social media platforms, I’m going to say right here that over 90 per cent of comments are positive and uplifting”. I’m a fan of #EileenGu ❤️ pic.twitter.com/mM1gKZSAr3 — SUNTAN (@sundriedcorn) February 4, 2022 Eileen Gu tells TikTok user to ‘cry about it’ When a TikTok user suggested that money was why Gu, as a San Francisco native, chose to represent China, Gu’s response was simple, telling the person to “cry [about] it”. She has repeatedly expressed pride in her Chinese heritage as well as American upbringing. To the champion, the two are not mutually exclusive, and she refused to be labelled as one or the other. Winning over everyone at the Games From the Hungarian Liu brothers looking smitten at the medal ceremony as they posed with Gu, to her sharing her friendship with silver-medallist and compatriot Su Yiming , Gu is certainly popular. Days after US snowboarder Chloe Kim congratulated Gu on Instagram for her win, Gu came to watch Kim take home her own gold in women’s snowboarding half-pipe. Gu’s photo of her at the medal ceremony received nearly 400,000 likes and 47,000 comments. Is Eileen Gu American or Chinese? Opinions divided over her nationality How many Instagram followers does Eileen Gu have? Gu celebrated reaching 1 million fans on Instagram on Friday, and her following has grown rapidly since the Winter Games began. Meanwhile her Weibo account has a following of 4.3 million. Her Douyin account, the Chinese equivalent of TikTok, has grown even more, from 2 million followers on February 3, to nearly 12 million eight days later.