Three years ago, Eileen Gu stood in the Chinese outfit just a week after singing the U.S. national anthem at the World Cup final podium.
Eileen Gu, 18, has been one of the faces of the Olympics everywhere. Prior to the Beijing Games, he appeared on Vogue cover photos as well as commercials for Victoria’s Secret, Louis Vuitton and Tiffany. And now he is China’s own gold medalist at the Beijing Olympics.
California-born Eileen Gu, celebrated in China Gu Ailing, won the freestyle skiing big air competition on Monday morning Finnish time. And success will not necessarily be left behind, as he is expected to win in all three freestyle skiing modes, including slopestyle and halfpipe.
Before Guta, only one Chinese athlete has been able to win three gold medals in the same tournament when Wang Meng won the long – distance skating three times at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
In Monday’s final, Gu collapsed on his knees in the snow after his last jump, buried his face behind his gloves and then shouted for joy. The jump in the final round secured the first gold medal in his career.
“It was the best moment of my life. I can’t believe what just happened, ”Eileen Gu said after the race.
Eileen Gu competing in the big air final.
Gun success evokes fuss and antipathy in his native United States. Even before the Olympics, Gu was ridiculed On the change of US representation to China. On the conservative Fox television channel, he was accused of being an ungrateful traitor.
In sports, representation rights have been exchanged from one country to another for ages.
The United States has celebrated for example, a Kenyan-American double gold medalist at the Osaka World Championships in Athletics Bernard LagatiaA Nigerian-American winner of basketball gold at the Atlanta Olympics I’m looking for Olajuwonia and ranked 15th on the world badminton world Beiwen Zhangia, which changed its representation rights from China to the United States nine years ago. They are all examples of athletes born outside the United States.
However, the gun cut from the United States to China has hit a particularly sensitive spot, while geopolitical tensions between the United States and China have intensified. Gu still has to answer questions about the change of right of representation, even if the change took place already three years ago.
The Economist reported in a long article, how the exchange of Gun representation took place in 2019.
In January 2019, at the age of 15, he won the World Cup final in Italy for the first time. On February 1, just a week after he had sung the U.S. national anthem on the podium in Italy, Gu was already in China.
The Economist recounted how “an American teenager was wearing a Chinese red and white uniform at a national winter sports center. Gu was in the front row, just meters away Xi from Jinping, The Chinese leader. This is a once in a century event, ”Xi told athletes. Gu himself has been silent about this encounter.
In June 2019 Gu told of his decision in Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter.
“I am proud to represent China at the Beijing Olympics. I hope that sport can be a way for China and the United States to improve their communication, understanding and friendship. Beijing, I’m coming. ”
Just an hour later, he wrote a new message as if about to take up his post.
“Chinese freestyle skier Gu Ailing is signing up,” the post said.
However, it has not been said whether Gu has also changed his nationality. Under Chinese law, he should have renounced U.S. citizenship before he turned 18 last September. If he has not had to give up his U.S. passport, it would be a rare concession from China.
A week before Gun announced his mother Gu Yan had registered a new company called Dream Come Gu. It was a preparation for all the monetary sponsorship deals that Gulle was promised.
When the Economist wrote a gossip about the Olympics, he and his mother refused to be interviewed. According to their lawyer, the family would have liked to check that there is no criticism of China at all in the article.
Gun’s life in public had begun much earlier. When Gu was 12 years old, his mother gave Chinese state television (CCTV) full access to their lives. CCTV’s film crew watched Gun’s life in China and the United States for a year.
“I spent a quarter of my life in China. Both countries [Yhdysvallat ja Kiina] have made me the way I am. Both countries have supported me. I have not favored another at the expense of another. I use sport as a force for unity and not as a divisive force. If you don’t agree, I can’t do anything about it, ”Gu said of Independent on Tuesday.
“If people don’t like me, it’s their defeat. They will never win the Olympics. ”
Peng Shuai arrived to watch the big Air final, which Eileen Gu won.
Thomas Bach, chairman of the International Olympic Committee, spoke with Peng Shua in the big Air auditorium. It is still unknown what exactly happened to Peng Shua after he said he was exploited by a well-known minister. He disappeared from public view for a long time.
Gun the former tennis player was also watching the victory on the freestyler Peng Shuaiwhich was silenced by China after it accused the former Chinese Deputy Prime Minister of coercing into a sexual act.
Peng Shuai, the German chairman of the International Olympic Committee, sat in the auditorium of the Freestyle competition. Thomas Bachin with who said he met Peng as if by chance among other athletes in the race. Gulta was asked about Peng’s presence.
“I am pleased that she is happy and healthy and doing her job again. I’m glad he was here, and it’s a great honor that the wider sports audience is paying attention to freestyle skiing, ”Gu said.
The fact that he was asked about the fate of Peng Shua tells how Gusta has become an intermediary between China and the West.
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