Eileen Gu

Gu was born in the United States to an American father and a Chinese mother. Her mother Yan Gu came to study in the U.S. from China in her twenties, enrolling at Auburn University and Rockefeller University. Having skied at Hunter Mountain for the first time, her passion in the sport deepened after relocating to the San Francisco Bay Area while earning an MBA from Stanford University. She put a young Eileen in ski school in Lake Tahoe so that the daughter could keep up with her. Yan, as Eileen put it, “accidentally created a pro skier.”[2]

On March 1, 2021, she wrote on Sina Weibo that she was recognized as a candidate for the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program from San Francisco University High School in January.[3][1] She did not ultimately win the scholarship.[4]

She has called out Anti-Asian rhetoric during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States and supported Black Lives Matter.[5]

She participated at the FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding World Championships 2021, winning two gold medals in Freeski Halfpipe and Freeski Slopestyle. Gu became the first freeskier to win two golds at the FIS Freeski World Championship. She also won a bronze medal in Freeski Big Air.[6][7] She was also injured at the event with a broken hand.[8]

In 2021 Gu became the first woman to land a forward double cork 1440.[9]

Born in the United States to an American father and a Chinese mother, she has competed for China since June 2019 by requesting a change of nation with the International Ski Federation.[10][11][12] Chinese nationality law does not recognize dual citizenship and she did not answer a reporter's question regarding her status as a U.S. citizen at the time.[13] Her goal was to compete for China in the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics which the Olympic Charter Rule 41 by-law allows for dual citizenship or multiple citizenship.[14] Ultimately, she hopes to unite people from the two countries. There has been no evidence of her giving up her U.S. citizenship per the United States Department of the Treasury.[15] On March 1, 2021, she wrote on Sina Weibo that she was recognized as a candidate for the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program from San Francisco University High School in January.[16][1] The scholarship is only open to U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents by the application deadline.[17] She did not ultimately win the scholarship.[18]

For her decision to swap representation, she has received online hate speech including death threats, despite an overwhelming majority of positive messages.[8] In interviews, she has either said, "Nobody can deny I'm American, nobody can deny I'm Chinese"[19] or "When I'm in the U.S., I'm American, but when I'm in China, I'm Chinese."[20][21]

• Eileen Gu at FIS (freestyle)
• Eileen Gu at Olympedia