Olympic freeskier Eileen Gu has responded to US Vice-President JD Vance after he appeared to criticise her decision to represent China instead of the United States. Gu, 22, is the most decorated female freeskier in Olympic history, with five medals including two golds and a silver at the 2022 Beijing Games and two silvers at the Milano Cortina Games.
In a Fox News interview on Tuesday, Vance suggested American-born athletes should compete for the US, saying he would 'root for American athletes'. When asked about Gu, he said he had 'no idea what her status should be'. Gu, born in San Francisco to an American father and a Chinese mother, switched to compete for China in 2019.
Responding after a qualifying run on Thursday, Gu said: 'I'm flattered. Thanks, JD! That's sweet.' She added that she was not offended and agreed she had become a 'punching bag' for US political debate. 'So many athletes compete for a different country. People only have a problem with me doing it because they lump China into this monolithic entity and just hate China,' she said.
Gu also noted that her success fuels criticism: 'Because I win. If I wasn't doing well, I think they probably wouldn't care as much.' Earlier in the Games, she defended American freeskier Hunter Hess after Donald Trump called him a 'real Loser' for expressing ambivalence about representing the US.
More than 15 American-born athletes have won medals for other countries at these Games, while at least 13 foreign-born athletes have medaled for Team USA. Gu, who won gold in the halfpipe at Beijing 2022, is a favourite to medal again in Saturday's event.
