In the world of winter sports, there is no other current athlete on the same level as Eileen Gu – with three gold and three silver medals to her name, she is the most decorated freestyle skier in Olympic History. However, she draws controversy due to her unique circumstances; despite having lived in the United States her whole life, she represents China at the Winter Olympic Games.
Back in 2022, during the Beijing Winter Olympics, former Fox News Anchor Tucker Carlson attacked Eileen Gu and her sponsors, claiming that they had “turned their back on the country (the United States)… that’s why she’s a symbol.” This is an outlandish claim, of course. In no way has Gu allegedly ‘turned her back’ on her home country, nor has she given up her American nationality in favour of Chinese citizenship. As Eileen herself says, she is both American and Chinese, and she chose to represent China so she could inspire young girls from the country to pick up freeskiing.
Gu isn’t the only athlete who represents another country despite training or playing abroad. Two-time Olympic bronze medalist Sky Brown represents Great Britain in skateboarding, despite never living there herself. She splits her time between Japan and the US, but as she holds British citizenship through her father, she is eligible to compete as a British athlete. While she hasn’t faced as much scrutiny as Gu has, her similar circumstances display how it is possible to represent your nation despite living and playing abroad.
The same can be said for most Premier League players, who come from all over the world to play abroad. Haaland plays for Manchester City, Messi plays for Inter Miami, and Bellingham plays for Real Madrid, for example. Yet when the World Cup comes around, they wear the shirts of their national team.
This isn’t some kind of betrayal towards their home country, or to the abroad-nation with whom they have practiced and trained with for years. It’s simply how the world of sport works. Most athletes inevitably need to leave their homeland because there simply aren’t good enough resources where they come from. It’s why so many football players end up signing with clubs in the Premier League or La Liga: not only are they paid much better, but it increases their global exposure too.
People like Carlson neglect to consider that the sporting world isn’t limited to one place, but… well, the world. Controversy surrounding Eileen Gu specifically, stems from a long-existing animosity toward China as America’s global competition, but to weaponise that to justify a nonexistent morality argument is laughable. It isn’t betrayal when other athletes return to compete for their national team in international games, so how is Gu’s situation any different?
“Gu Ailing Eileen on her first run at Women’s Freeski Big Air Qualification (20220207093707)” by N509FZ is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
