By Amy Tennery
(Reuters) – Eileen Gu did not expect the level of controversy that resulted from her choosing to represent China rather than the United States at the Beijing Olympics, she said on Wednesday.
The 18-year-old Gu enjoyed a stellar Games this year, picking up gold medals in Big Air and halfpipe as well as a silver in slopestyle.
San Francisco-born Gu also faced controversy over her decision in 2019 to switch teams and represent China after years of competing for the U.S.
“There were so many amazing female role models in the U.S. that I grew up watching,” Gu told an espnW Summit panel in New York City. “There wasn’t someone like that in China.”
Gu, who speaks fluent Mandarin and spent her summers in China but was raised in the U.S., said she was inspired to represent her mother’s home country.
“I can say 100 times I’m doing this because I want to inspire more young girls in sport. I’m doing this because I want to introduce kids to free skiing and I’m doing this to represent my and my mother’s Chinese heritage,” Gu said.
“If people don’t believe that and if they want to be like ‘She’s doing it for xyz’, I can’t do anything about that.”
Chinese social media users suggested Gu enjoyed a privileged life.
“I’m trying my best to make the world a better place in my own way,” said Gu.
“If you don’t like this way – awesome, like you guys can go do something else.”
Bound for Stanford University this year, Gu said she was enjoying the perks of her post-Olympic celebrity, attending New York’s Met Gala on Monday, but that she has received hate mail and been the subject of online bullying.
“It’s easy to just be like, ‘Yeah, just don’t care’,” said Gu. “But God, like, I’m 18.”
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York, editing by Ed Osmond)
