‘Opportunity to uplift others’: Double Olympic champion Eileen Gu reflects on choosing China over US

“Skiing for Team China meant the opportunity to uplift others through the universal culture of sport, and to introduce freeskiing to hundreds of millions of people who had never heard of it,” Gu wrote in an Instagram post on Tuesday.

She explained that the move was deeply connected to her childhood passion for women’s sports and gender equality.

“I gave my first speech on women in sports and Title IX when I was 11 years old,” Gu wrote. “I talked about being the only girl on my ski team, and, despite attending an all-girls’ school from Monday through Friday, becoming best friends with my teammates on the weekends through the common language of sport.”

“At the same time, I was made painfully aware of the lack of representation – at age 9, I felt that I was somehow representing all women every time I stepped in the terrain park. Landing tricks was about more than progression … it was about disproving the derisive implication of what it meant to ‘ski like a girl.'”

Before making the switch to China, Gu spent a season competing for the U.S. She expressed that she is “forever grateful” for that time and maintains a close relationship with her former team. However, she recognized that freestyle skiing in China was still in its infancy and faced many limitations.

Starting at age eight, Gu spent her summers in China organizing trampoline and slope camps for people ranging from 7 to 47 years old. Because the industry was so small, she felt she knew everyone there.

According to Gu, competing for China presented a unique opportunity to spread sports culture and introduce freeskiing to hundreds of millions of people who had never heard of it, particularly with the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics approaching.

“Three golds and six medals later, I can confidently say was once a dream is now a reality,” she added.

At age 18 in Beijing, she made history as the first freestyle skier to win three medals at a single Games: gold in big air and halfpipe and silver in slopestyle.

She repeated the triumph at the 2026 Games in Italy, winning gold in halfpipe and silver in big air and slopestyle.

“I can look back now, at 22, and tell 12-year-old Eileen that there are now terrain parks full of little girls, who will never doubt their place in the sport,” she wrote. “I can tell 15-year-old me that there are now millions of girls who have started skiing since then, in China and worldwide.”

Eileen Gu during competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Photo by Instagtam/@eileengu

Gu acknowledged that her choice was not universally supported, stating that many people won’t understand or believe she made the decision simply to create the greatest positive impact on the world stage.

Besides her personal motivations, the “Snow Princess” also faces political questions. In an interview with Time magazine, when pressed about the current situation of Uyghur people in Xinjiang, Gu stated she had not done enough research on the topic and did not want to be a spokesperson for any political agenda.

She argued that asking her to make a definitive political statement was irresponsible and that she needed substantial evidence and primary sources before forming a conclusion.

Born on Sept. 3, 2003, in San Francisco, California, Gu competed for the U.S. team until 2019 before formally switching to representing China. Following her dominant performances at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, she has become the most decorated freestyle skier in the sport’s history.

Gu is currently the world’s highest-earning Winter Olympic athlete, taking home an estimated $23 million in 2025 alone, largely through lucrative endorsements with both Chinese and Western brands.

The controversy surrounding Gu recently intensified after a report by Wall Street Journal revealed that Gu and Beverly Zhu, another American-born athlete competing for China, received a combined $6.6 million from the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sports in 2025.

Gu’s decision to represent Chins has also drawn sharp criticism from American politicians. U.S. Vice President JD Vance stated on Fox News last month that he hoped individuals who grew up in the American education system and benefited from American freedoms would want to compete for the U.S.

Gu fired back, stating she feels she has become a “punching bag” for certain factions of American politics.

She also revealed she has received death threats, experienced a burglary at her Stanford University dormitory, and was even physically attacked, which required police intervention. She emphasized that she has been through things no 22-year-old should ever have to.