Eileen Gu to be in spotlight at Winter Olympics again but passport issue refuses to go away
The Chinese superstar skier was born and raised in the US, where her father is from, but changed allegiance to her mother’s homeland in 2019
Eileen Gu soared to double Olympic gold as a teenager four years ago, but it was the colour of her passport that drew as much scrutiny as her stunning displays.
Gu was born and raised in San Francisco and started her freeskiing career representing the United States, only to switch allegiance to China – where her mother is from – in 2019.
That decision drew intense interest at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics when she delivered two golds and a silver for the hosts and became one of the faces of the Games.
Now the 22-year-old, whose father is American, will be in the spotlight again as China’s most prominent athlete at the Olympics at Milan-Cortina.
Speaking ahead of the Games, she said it was “sad” that some people were focused more on her sporting nationality than her performances.
Gu, who studies at Stanford University and is also a model, insists that her goal has always been to promote her sport.