Why Eileen Gu Was Wrong: The American Prodigy Who Won Gold For China

Yesterday, 18-year-old American citizen Eileen Gu won the gold medal in the first-ever women's big air ski event at the Beijing Olympics, narrowly edging out France's Tess Ledeux. Social media erupted, with CNN reporting that Gu compiled over 90,000 comments on one of her social media accounts in under thirty minutes. This victory appears to be one of the first stepping stones in Gu's pathway to becoming an international sensation. Aside from her outstanding performance at the Beijing Games and her newly earned status as Olympic gold medalist, she is also set to attend Stanford as a member of the class of 2026. In addition to these two incredible feats, she also happens to be gorgeous. Gu has been a model for some time now and can easily become a beauty and fashion icon in the future.

Born and raised in San Francisco to bi-racial parents, Eileen learned to ski at Lake Tahoe when her Chinese mother decided she wanted her daughter to "Be able to keep up with her." she was an outstanding student in high school, earning 1580 on the SAT and securing a spot at one of the most prestigious universities in the world. In her Instagram bio, she links an article that she wrote for the New York Times in which she magnificently describes what it's like to be an Olympic-level freestyle skier at her young age. The piece is very engaging and well written, without question more than any article on this blog.

A week ago, we published a post that commented on the death of the late Cheslie Kryst, who had won the Miss America competition in 2019. All of the aspects of Cheslie that made her an outstanding Miss America directly apply to Eileen Gu. Both beautiful, brilliant, brave, and advocates (Eileen has made it clear that she hopes to inspire more girls to get into competitive skiing, especially in China). Unfortunately, both also fell victim to significant pitfalls that in Gu's case might have jeopardized her legacy forever. Gu is American, but she did not win gold for us. She received the 90,000 comments not on Twitter but instead on Weibo. Eileen did not represent the United States at the Beijing Games; She represented the nation of her mother's birth, The People's Republic of China. Why would Eileen, a woman with so much potential, pass up on the opportunity to win gold for the stars and stripes and instead represent the country that as of now is our foremost enemy?

I do not know Eileen Gu. Some say that fact alone should be enough cause for me to shut my mouth; I'm afraid I have to disagree with this sentiment. Eileen is a public figure and an adult who made a controversial grown-up decision, one which I have a right to comment on. I can rank the possible reasons she made her ill-fated decision using a modicum of self-evident assumptions and deductive reasoning. Giving her the benefit of the doubt, I will say that one potential factor could concern the family she might have in China. Lord only knows what overt or veiled threats the Communists made towards Eileen or her mother. Seeing as competing for the Chinese by her admission has been a goal of hers since the age of fifteen, I consider this explanation to be doubtful. Besides this possibility, There's also the fact that around thirty Chinese companies, no doubt at the behest of the Communist regime and motivated by the prospect of exorbitant profits, have offered Eileen sponsorships. In total, these contracts will earn Eileen 2.5 million dollars, which is enough money to make pretty much any 18 year old on earth do almost anything.

Finally, there is the fact that Eileen's experience in America has not always been what it should have been. She has expressed concern with anti-Asian hate that has been undoubtedly growing more virulent since the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic. Gu described an incident at a Walgreens in San Francisco, where a man ran into the store and began shouting slurs and profanities about Asian immigrants in the presence of her octogenarian grandmother, who was no doubt terrified. People, especially on the right, quickly dismiss these instances as isolated outbursts from bad apples and wackjobs. Whether this assessment is accurate or not, many right-wing talking heads fail to address the fact that, as a minority, instances such as these do not help people like Eileen feel like part of our country or like the prized member of our nation that she is. This incident is one reason it is essential to be mindful of who is around you and what kind of comments you are making; Freedom of speech does not mean freedom to be a scumbag. To abuse the privilege of the First Amendment in this manner, while rightfully legal, in cases like this hurt our country and very well could have lost us a gold medal in these recent Olympic Games.

Athletes competing for countries other than their own in the Olympics is nothing new. It happens every year, and people rarely bat an eye. The primary source of the controversy surrounding both Eileen's decision and this year's Bejing Games generally are the ongoing human rights abuses being perpetrated against both Uyghurs and Tibetans in China. While some people may find it hard to see how such an educated and intelligent young woman could make such a decision, perhaps it is not a simple matter. Suppose one goes on social media, especially into the comment section of Eileen's posts. In that case, you will find a large swathe of people who see the world entirely differently than they do in America. If you can stomach sifting through the Chinese bots and trolls, clearly recognizable by their lack of both followers and profile pictures, you will notice a disconcerting phenomenon. All over the world, there are educated, multilingual, and socially engaged people of all walks of life who genuinely believe that nothing is happening in Xinjiang Province. Distrust of the media in America is considered characteristic of the right-wing, but many people worldwide generally distrust the Western press. In this regard, people around the globe are quick to lump Fox News and BBC in the same category of Western propaganda, a contention that most Americans would agree with is ludicrous. Not only do many people worldwide, and even in America, doubt the legitimacy of the Uyghur genocide currently taking place, but many are quick to shoot back at those who voice their concerns about such atrocities by bringing up the stains of our past, which the fabric of American history is rife with.

Whether or not they meant to, European settlers did wipe out millions of natives with communicable diseases carried which they carried across the sea. They most definitely meant to wage war on the natives during Manifest Destiny and did so ruthlessly and with cruel and calculated efficiency. The trail of tears was very much like the Bataan Death March. Many people argue that American Indian residential schools and the current Chinese state position on the Uyghur internment camps bear a striking resemblance to one another. We allowed slavery in America for a hundred years after declaring ourselves an Empire of Liberty. We instituted Jim Crow laws that were so skillfully and insidiously crafted to oppress black Americans that the Nazis copied them and used them against European Jews. Women could not vote for over a hundred years after the founding of our great nation. Earlier Americans abused Chinese immigrants in the 19th century as they built the railroads that connected the continental United States. We abused prisoners in both Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay. The federal government interned the Japanese during World War Two. We are the only nation to have dropped the atomic bomb on civilians, we firebombed Dresden, and our military massacred the villages of My Lai and Haditha.

So, now put yourself in the shoes of Eileen Gu. She was brought up in leftist San Francisco by a lone Chinese mother, her American father being absent for reasons unknown. Growing up, as all American kids are these days, she was probably taught American history from the perspective of Howard Zinn, while no doubt simultaneously being taught the true glory and beauty of Chinese culture from her mother and grandmother. This teaching at home was most likely reinforced by her experience in China, where she says she has spent a quarter of her life. By age 15, she was considered a serious Olympic contender. by age 16, Coronavarius had struck the nation. In her eyes, she begins to see a rising wave of anti-Asian sentiment, which she later has direct first-hand experience with at Walgreens. Then, she is offered a collective 2.5 million dollars by the Chinese government to compete for them. Perhaps she knows of the Uyghur issue but is unsure how much the reporting on the subject is accurate versus merely a manifestation of the western media's political agenda. On top of all this, she is offered something priceless by the Chinese government; The opportunity to become an icon and inspiration to young girls all across China who one day hope to compete or simply ski. She was allowed the chance to represent the country of her ancestors, people who had stuck with her throughout all of her life, the country that never drove her away or made her feel like a misfit. So, with all things considered, was Elieen wrong to do what she did? Yes, she certainly was. Here's why.

When it comes to money, Eileen easily could have secured that kind of financial game from American sponsorships and probably still will one day. When it comes to the racism, she claims to have experienced and which we have no reason to doubt, to judge an entire nation based on an interaction with what was most likely a drug addict or mental case in a Walgreens is not at all a logical analysis of even anecdotal data. At the very least, the guy that she, unfortunately, crossed paths with was a loser. Anyone who influences American society loves Eileen Gu, even after she decides to compete for China. Look at the comments on her Instagram posts and see for yourself the number of American blue checkmarks that are cheering her on. Americans love Eileen because she is talented, she is beautiful, and she is brilliant.

What about the Uyghur angle and comparing such allegations and well-established American history? To be blunt, I do not believe that there is any way Eileen Gu can be kidding herself when it comes to the Uyghurs. This young woman maintains a modeling career, got into Stanford, and is now an Olympic gold medalist. This means that not only did she need to get 1580 on the SATs as well as what was probably a perfect GPA, but she needed to do so while scheduling around both her intense athletic training and her beauty career. We are talking about an extremely intelligent and competent individual who is unlikely to be fooled by propaganda from either the east or the west. There is no denying the plight of the Uyghurs, pictures of the terrible conditions which they are enduring are all over the internet.

When it comes to the issue of American history, she would be right to have qualms; America has always had problems. It has also always worked towards solutions. We fought a war to end slavery. We marched in the blistering heat to end Jim Crow and establish rights for women. When injustice rears its ugly head, Americas take to the streets; It's what we've always done since the days of the Boston Massacre. We make progress in America by using our voices. By speaking truth to power. Many descendants of slaveholders ended up marching during the civil rights movement under the banner of equal rights for all. Descendants of settlers and soldiers who drove native Americans down the trail of tears are today working within the department of Native American Affairs and with NGOs to help improve the quality of life on reservations. Heirs of both master and slave fought side by side in the same foxhole as they beat back the Nazi onslaught during the Battle of the Bulge. Nations are not merely comprised of their historical feats; nations primarily consist of those who currently live in them. They are an amalgamation of the small day-to-day actions of each of citizens and their respective decisions, combined with the policy and conduct of their ruling bureaucracy.

Nations are not just the product of their sins, but also the product of their everyday heroes; The ones who marched with Martin Luther King, who stormed Harper's Ferry, who ran into the burning buildings on 9/11. The same is true in the nation that Eileen chose to represent. In China, Tiananmen Square will forever be a ray of light in the darkness of their recent history that is still haunted by the horrors of the Great Leap Forward. When someone earns a platform as Eileen did, they do not ascend to it as merely a Chinese or an American; They speak into the microphone as a Chinese or an American person. They have the opportunity to speak out for what is right and what is true. They represent a nation on the international stage, making such their obligation. This is especially true for Elieen, who has the unique privilege of American citizenship. When people speak out in China, they get run over by tanks like in Tiananmen square or disappear from society without a trace. Eileen understands this obligation generally; She spoke out forcefully in support of the Black Lives Matter movement that swept the country in 2020. Does she believe that the treatment of black Americans in the United States is comparable to that of the Tibetans and the Uyghurs? Once again, I believe she's far too intelligent to believe something so foolish.

A lot of mystery surrounds the status of Elieen's father. I will not attempt to stipulate the nature of his absence, I will only recognize the true tragedy that anyone who experiences life without a parent must endure and suffer through. I genuinely hope that Ms. Gu has made peace with whatever is the cause of his lacking presence. Her Chinese mother and Grandmother were always there for her, which no doubt strengthened her roots in her mother country. I believe that what pushed Eileen over the line in favor of china was a combination of the hate she felt that she experienced here, as well as the prospect of being a Chinese cultural icon among young women and girls. The opportunity to be the inspiration they need to unlock the joy in life that skiing had brought her probably proved to be one temptation too many. This is where she made her most critical miscalculation.

Eileen Gu's Chinese half might have raised her, but America never once let her down as a whole. Sure, she dealt with jerks from time to time, but Americans are warm and caring by and large. According to a 2020 study by the World Values Survey, America is statistically speaking one of the least racist countries on earth. Does it cast us in a poor light that so many Asian people feel affected by racism, or that now and then, a psychopath shoots Asian people in the street in a vicious unprovoked hate crime? Of course, it does. But for every person like that in the United States, millions of people have Eileen's back and continue to even after she chose to represent china over us. I certainly was not rooting for her to win gold, but I, of course, was hoping she made it through competition safe and unharmed and perhaps earned silver, as were all Americans of good faith. She will say herself that the U.S. Team and coaches supported her the entire way, not to mention all of her teachers and peers who no doubt helped her, for the most part, the whole way to Beijing. One of our finest academic institutions offered her a place in their upcoming class; Granted, she is very much qualified, but anyone who goes to an Ivy League school is lucky for such an opportunity. America as a Nation wrapped her up in an embrace of freedom, allowing her to grow and become the impressive and monumental person she is today in 18 short years. And then, for one of the aforementioned reasons, or all of them, she turned her back on us. Maybe she convinced herself that this is not the case, but to so many Americans, it simply is. Gu addressed her many haters at a press conference by saying that they "Would never know what it's like to win an Olympic Gold Medal." This is true, and this is the main reason why her decision was so painful to so many Americans, who perhaps expressed their discontent less than gracefully on social media.

I will never win an Olympic gold medal in my life. I will never get admitted to Stanford. I will never be as attractive as Eileen, nor as good a writer as she is. She knows this is the case for 99.999 percent of the people criticizing her, so she, in all likelihood, chalks up their displeasure to jealously. This is probably true, though not in the way she thinks it is. Everyone, myself included, would probably like Eileen to lend them a piece of one of her many gifts; I am particularly jealous of the Stanford Degree she will receive come four years from now. An Ivy League degree is something that I always wanted growing up, and now it is too late for me (not that I was ever competent enough to get one to begin with). That being said, what people are jealous of and what they are furious about has nothing to do with her accolades; It is the disastrous ways in which she has failed to use her new platform. Within a week, she will probably reach a million followers on Instagram, she will have stood on an Olympic podium with a gold medal in her hand, and she will have a thriving career as a model. She had an opportunity with these Olympics not only to be a voice for the oppressed Uyghurs and Tibetans. As I write this, they are being beaten, gang-raped, and sterilized in the concentration camps of Xinjiang Province. Even if, somehow, she is genuinely convinced that such atrocities are products of Western disinformation, or she has somehow justified them by comparing them to the historical or current activities of the United States government worldwide, she still blew a huge opportunity. Eileen Gu is not the only Asian-American who feels that she has experienced racism; Many, if not most, have similar stories to tell to her Walgreens one. Some Asians in this country have been beaten in the street or even gunned down based solely on their race. While statistically, these instances are not very significant, they often happen enough to create a widespread feeling of discontent in the Asian community. Whether or not this feeling is warranted is not the issue; The reality is that it exists, and Asian-Americans are incensed about it, as we all would be.

Eileen Gu had an opportunity to show Asian Americans that this is their country. To prove that, despite the "Chinese, Japanese, dirty knees, look at these" jingles they grew up listening to, despite the hurdles that they needed to navigate to get into college as a result of affirmative action policies, they bled the stars and stripes just like the rest of us. Prove that they are just as much a part of this bold and unlikely experiment as everyone else. She had the chance to be an inspiration for every Asian kid in America who goes to school with people who don't look like them and are surrounded by cultural icons who share nothing in common with them. She could have thrown her gold medal in the face of that man who wandered into that Walgreens, and in the face of every person who made fun of a Chinese American for the shape of their eyes or the content of their lunch box. With that gold medal, she could have been the stitch that bound the wound that Asian Americans feel that they have suffered at the hand of this country. She could have shown people that Asian Americans are, as the kids say, dope. Instead, she chose to do the opposite. Whether she meant to or not, the message she sent was one of resignation. Instead of encouraging Asian American kids to meet the discrimination they feel they are facing head-on, she in effect told them to turn their backs on their country altogether. She teaches Asian Americans to use America as a resource for safety and schooling and good food and prosperity, but they should never hope to truly become American. Take what lady liberty will give you, gain what ground in life you can here, and then leave to join your true home, and your actual people is what her message amounts to. This damages Asian Americans and spells tragedy for the United States as a nation.

Eileen Gu is only 18 years old. Anyone who has been that age knows that 18-year-olds, no matter how accomplished, have a long way to go before their final form is manifested. I believe Eileen made a grave mistake in 2022 and that her decision to represent China was immoral to its core. She is an adult, and she deserves to be held accountable for her choices. I also believe that she still represents the best of America in many ways. If our mistakes at age 18 defined us for the rest of our lives, we would all be in for a lifelong world of hurt. I genuinely hope that Eileen has a change of heart and comes back home. Not just literally but philosophically, morally, and ideologically. If she does, I believe she will be an enduring American icon. The decision will not be motivated by money or fame; she will always be privy to both from this day forward. Suppose she comes back to America and represents us in 2026. In that case, it will be due to the weight of her conscience, and she will become a symbol of the fact that America is never too far gone, that Asian Americans are Americans and some of the finest among us. She will become a beacon of hope, communicating to the world that we are still the most beautiful and most promising nation on earth. If she chooses to do so, America will be waiting with open arms to wrap her in the same embrace that brought her to stardom and glory.