Eileen Gu, world’s greatest free skier chooses China over the USA: agreement, outrage, indifference?

Agree with Greg Kirby.

Ramsey Chef wrote:

Crystal Palace Fan wrote:

Gu seems like a nice woman, albeit a little naive as to what China is capable of.

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Is China capable of fabricating a war based on Weapons of Mass destruction . American bodies are still lying around the Middle East on a war based on Oil control . The Clinton's have made more people disappear than the China government .

I'm sure no one here thinks the US is perfect or hasn't committed its own set of human rights violations, but the Clinton reference is dated and silly.

Vineyard Vines wrote:

American dad, Chinese mom, born in USA, raised in USA. Decides she wants to compete for a country run by a repressive regime that dumped Covid onto the world. I hope she stays there permanently. Revoke her USA citizenship.

+1

Of course her experiences are her own, and I don’t doubt she’s faced racism, as have my daughters.   This encounter sounds like one with a deranged mentally ill and likely unhoused person, not an uncommon occurrence in SF, but scary for sure.  Yes, I know a lot about Eileen, and she has never stated in any public or private way that America has failed her.   For the record, she attended the most elite private HS in SF at a cost of $50K per year, she’s happily headed to Stanford University next year.   She was trained at the most elite free skiing training facilities with the best coaches on earth in Tahoe.   She’s certainly experienced racism, as described, but your argument that America failed her and that she chose China for this reason is bogus.   Her whole point is that her choice has nothing to do with this sort of thing.   I’ll grant you her skiing for China is not a betrayal of America, nor is it some sort of rejection either.   She refuses to be put in either category, so don’t you do it either.

NORTH LONDON IS RED wrote:

Ramsey Chef wrote:

Is China capable of fabricating a war based on Weapons of Mass destruction . American bodies are still lying around the Middle East on a war based on Oil control . The Clinton's have made more people disappear than the China government .

I'm sure no one here thinks the US is perfect or hasn't committed its own set of human rights violations, but the Clinton reference is dated and silly.

It is a far right site. Those guys are still obsessed with the Clintons 20+ years later.

Honestly this is the type of stuff that a 15-20 year old has no clue about. You just can't put it in context. A note this is pretty much strictly

Because she is good and it being china. Go compete for Sweden, mexico, Greece, Peru and none really cares.

Well that's great and all. You've only described economic privilege. I don't know about you, but I understand that no amount of money heals the scars from racism faced during childhood. Growing up without a father in the house isn't exactly a privilege either. You're positing that having a lot of money, attending good schools, and training at good facilities overrides a childhood of bullying (we don't know if she was affected by this, but for the sake of this arguing against the fact that money overwrites racism, this is a common experience among Asian-Americans), a traumatizing experience like fearing for her own grandmother's safety and a dramatic increase in people who share her mother's ethnicity being attacked in broad daylight. Sorry, Chinese-Americans aren't unfeeling robots who can completely forget racial harassment when they look at their bank accounts.

I'm the last person that would say that she's "betraying America" with her decision, especially on LR based on what I'm seeing. Where am I shoe-horning her into a position that's explicitly "rejecting America?" Since you've been following this closely, you and I both know that she's explicitly stated that feels both American and Chinese with one leg in each country and culture. There's no category for me to arbitrarily put her in because she's stated her stance herself. You're seeing ghosts. I've said it a couple times now, but I'll say it again in case I wasn't clear: There are clear personal reasons why she may have affected her decision to represent China over America in her sport. I don't see why you're so incensed about such an innocuous conclusion based off everything we know.

Her statement is that when she's in America, she's American. When she's in in China, she's Chinese.

An interesting perspective.

Joe+Mama wrote:

Vineyard Vines wrote:

American dad, Chinese mom, born in USA, raised in USA. Decides she wants to compete for a country run by a repressive regime that dumped Covid onto the world. I hope she stays there permanently. Revoke her USA citizenship.

+1

Then Stop honouring China by buying Nike Super Shoes . The entire USTFA system is based on China commerce .

BTC is basically an organization promoting the China lifestyle wearing China citizen outfits with the swoosh

Ok, my head hurts.   Let’s call it a day.   I can’t prove to you that I know her and her circumstances without betraying her privacy.   I guess if she was super traumatized by America she wouldn’t go to Stanford.   She certainly could get an excellent education at the next level in China.   I started this thread because knowing her I was shocked she chose to compete for China and that was the predominant reaction in her community, my community, including among Asian American or biracial kids and families, like my own.  By shock, I mean surprise, not anger or any feelings of betrayal.  The more I hear her speak these days and the more I read, I truly think she’s trying to stay above the fray.   She is assiduously avoiding any speech about her decision that would be construed as a rejection of America or preference  for China at the level of culture or politics.   I do believe she is sincere about this.

Vineyard Vines wrote:

Her statement is that when she's in America, she's American. When she's in in China, she's Chinese.

An interesting perspective.

I know a woman who has a Mexican mom and a white dad and grew up in the US near the Mexico border. As a kid she visited Mexico every weekend for years with her mom to see relatives there. She told me that she feels both 100% Mexican and 100% American.

I definitely think that someone growing up with parents from 2 different countries, and who spent a lot of time in each country, can genuinely feel like they are from both of those countries.

It is intriguing (but not really surprised) that those who are spewing their hatred toward Eileen Gu say nothing about these hockey players.

https://sports.yahoo.com/north-american-born-chinese-olympians-063444463.html

This is exactly it. The concept of american exceptionalism has deluded a lot of people.

Instead of asking why someone would go compete for a country as repressive as China, ask yourself what the hell has happened to America that it's now an actual option to the best and brightest to compete for China instead. Right now, a lot of people sound like the abusive boyfriend yelling at the girl they just beat up that she'll be back, as she tears down the road with her new guy. They never realize the truth: it doesn't matter who the new guy is, as long as it's not the old guy.

It seems like people are mostly bothered by the fact that she's chosen to represent China, which equates to a tacit endorsement of Chinese political policy... which is a valid debate. Regardless, I want to give her the benefit of the doubt because she's 18, and personally, I didn't know anything when I was 18.

That said for whatever it's worth, I did grow up as a competitive freestyle skier, didn't make the olympics myself, but I have a number of friends who did, and spent some time coaching elites, and I can share some insights to the politics of the sport itself:

Freeskiing and snowboarding are super niche, relatively new, and although it's changing (especially in the past few years), most of the talent pool has come from the US, Canada, and Scandinavian countries. A lot of people within the sport think the IOC and the Olympics are kinda dumb but a necessary evil to promote the sports to the masses.

Because the Olympics only allows 4 athletes per country, and most of the talent comes from a just a few countries, it's low-key encouraged for people who have the skills and the means (dual citizenship) to compete for a country other than the US to do so. This is a way around the 4-athlete limit and create a deeper competitive field when there's a big audience – more legit competition makes for a better show, more people will want to try the sport.

They're on the tail ends of their careers, but Gus Kenworthy and Louie Vito have competed for the US and have now switched to the UK and Italy, and in the past that's how you've gotten athletes from places like the British Virgin Islands.

TLDR: it happens in other sports, Mondo being an obvious example, but in freestyle skiing and snowboarding it's a very common practice. It's really just because she's chosen to represent China that there is controversy.

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All of that said, h/t to the person who said skiing isn't a sport, it's a past time for rich kids – you are not wrong, although the same thing could be argued about pretty much any sport these days. But snow sports are especially impenetrable for the average person these days.

Not that it should matter in the bigger scheme of things, but all these other athletes would not have been able to make team USA and compete in the Olympics at all had they not gone with team China, so on that level the upside seems more apparent.   Gu on the other hand is the best in the world and possibly the best ever.   Her choice would be akin to Nathan Chen choosing to compete for China this Olympics.

Wise Old Man wrote:

Just Another Hobby Jogger wrote:It is intriguing (but not really surprised) that those who are spewing their hatred toward Eileen Gu say nothing about these hockey players.

https://sports.yahoo.com/north-american-born-chinese-olympians-063444463.html

Not that it should matter in the bigger scheme of things, but all these other athletes would not have been able to make team USA and compete in the Olympics at all had they not gone with team China, so on that level the upside seems more apparent.   Gu on the other hand is the best in the world and possibly the best ever.   Her choice would be akin to Nathan Chen choosing to compete for China this Olympics.

He would be a bigger star and make a lot more money if he represented China.

Most Americans had forgot about him for four years after Pyeongchang, and probably will forget about him in a few weeks. And he is okay with that. He skates for his love of skating and competition. But if he were interested in fame and fortune, representing China would be a rational choice.

The dirty little media secret is that anti-Asian hate and violence is from a POC protected class.

Wise Old Man wrote:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2022/01/31/eileen-gu-china-freestyle-skiing-beijing-olympics/

I was shocked when she elected to represent China, but I realize I see things through a narrow lens. In China she’s a national hero and in the USA she’s simply the best at a niche sport. She’s incredibly talented in many domains. In HS she was a top local runner with no focus on it at all. She was always off skiing.

USA needs to step up their NIL deals or you won't land the top dawgs. China owns the USA bruh!

So it seems like she was born here and raised here. Then she chooses to represent the totalitarian regime of China. As I see it, it was all about the money.....