China’s double Olympic champion Eileen Gu has been named as a global ambassador to Asia Society Southern California, as part of the non-profit organisation’s AAPI Heritage Month celebrations. The 18-year-old freestyle skier – who was born and raised in California, but opted to represent China in international competition – received the honour at a gala last weekend in Los Angeles. She is just the third global ambassador for the organisation – which has “a mission of cross cultural bridge-building” – following in the footsteps of NBA icons Kobe Bryant and Yao Ming. “I have some massive shoes to fill,” Gu said with a smile, after being introduced on stage by former LA 2028 chief Gene Sykes, who played a leading role in Los Angeles being award the Olympic Games. In an Instagram posting thanking the charity, Gu said “it is imperative we consciously and actively continue to build bridges between cultures, communities, and people”. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Eileen Gu 🖤🌈🧊🐲 (@eileen_gu_) “It’s an honour to be the youngest and first female global ambassador,” Gu added in her speech at the gala. “We as communities, as Asian communities, and global citizens, really need to share more – be that food, be that conversation, be that good company, as we are all tonight, or be that information, be that knowledge and culture. View this post on Instagram A post shared by AsiaSocietySouthernCalifornia (@asiasocietyla) “Right now as a young person, I feel a lot of people can feel hopeless at times. Feel like we don’t have power, or voices. We can feel there are racist people, people who are bullying us. “Now we have this beautiful opportunity to connect and use our voices in ways we might never have been able to do before and act as a voice of unity.” Part-time model Gu was one of the faces of the Beijing 2022 Winter Games, attracting huge attention not just in China but the US after winning three medals and becoming a household name in the birth country of her mother. She was even name-checked by President Xi Jinping at a ceremony in April celebrating the achievements of China’s Olympic athletes, and made a splash on the red carpet on Friday at the Cannes Film Festival in France. “It’s so important we find our own niches of expression – I’m doing it through skiing but someone else might be cooking up this incredible food and sharing it with people of different cultures and backgrounds,” Gu added. “Someone else might be painting or drawing, or speaking or writing. There are all of these forms of expression that we culturally can share with the world.” Despite her achievements for China, Gu has attracted criticism on Chinese social media platform Weibo, with speculation swirling around her true nationality in February. Netizens asked whether Gu is Chinese or American, and raised concerns over the possibility of her having dual citizenship. “Work toward a common purpose, which is to inspire diversity, to celebrate it, to fight against people who hope to divide us, to stand together and use our voices and be proud of who we are,” Gu added in her speech. “So that – more than ever – is something I’m really, really proud to be a part of.”