Alysa Liu is at the defense of Eileen Gu.
Gu, an American-born snowboarding sensation, chose to represent China at the past two Winter Olympics, including the Milan Cortina Games last month, and received heat for this latest decision.
Liu, who captivated the world by winning the first gold medal for Team USA in women’s figure skating in two decades, came to her aid during an interview with The New York Times.
“I’ve known Eileen since I was 13 or something. We’re from the Bay Area. She’s super nice, and her mom is from China. I think people are hypocritical for shaming her for representing China,” Lius said.
“So, in my head, it’s a bit hypocritical, because her mom is an immigrant. Y’all would have told her to go back to China. Now that they’re back in China, you’re mad.”
Gu’s mother, Yan Gu, came to the U.S. to earn a master’s degree and ultimately received it from Stanford after studying chemistry and biochemistry at Peking University.
She went on to have Gu and raised the Olympian as a single parent.
Liu’s father, Arthur Liu, also left China after he participated in the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989. He had Liu in America through a surrogate and anonymous egg donor.
“And it’s sport, it doesn’t matter what country we represent,” Liu added. “Sport is sport, and she has a love for competition, she has love for the game. I think that’s all that matters. There’s no shame in going to where opportunity is.”
Gu became more of a target as she left Milan as the most decorated freestyle skier — man or woman — in Olympics history.
The 22-year-old defended her gold in the women’s halfpipe and went on to claim silver in big air and slopestyle. She now has six career Olympic medals.
“I have no idea what her status should be, I think that’s ultimately up to the Olympics Committee, I won’t pretend to wade into that,” Vice President JD Vance said during the Games in February.
“I certainly think that someone who grew up in the United States of America who benefited from our education system, from the freedoms and liberties that makes this country a great place, I would hope they want to compete with the United States of America. So, I’m going to root for American athletes, I think part of that is people who identify themselves as Americans. That’s who I’m rooting for in this Olympics.”
“I’m flattered. Thanks, JD! That’s sweet,” Gu said of Vance’s comments before adding that she feels like a “punching bag for a certain strand of American politics.”
“So many athletes compete for a different country….” Gu said. “People only have a problem with me doing it because they kind of lump China into this monolithic entity, and they just hate China. So, it’s not really about what they think it’s about. And also, because I win. Like, if I wasn’t doing well, I think that they probably wouldn’t care as much, and that’s OK for me. People are entitled to their opinions.”
Gu and Liu were both top recruiting targets when China started a program to recruit foreign-born athletes to boost competitiveness on the world stage.
In 2019, Gu sent a request for a change of nation to the International Ski Federation and said she made the decision “to help inspire millions of young people” and “unite people” in China in a post on Instagram.
