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American-born Team China Olympic skier Eileen Gu came under immense scrutiny on social media this week after making comments about President Donald Trump’s recent criticism of U.S. Olympian Hunter Hess.
Gu, who was born in San Francisco, is the highest-paid Winter Olympic athlete in the world, making an estimated $23 million in 2025 alone in partnerships with Chinese companies, including the Bank of China, and western companies. Gu has said she represents China for her mother, who was born there.
Gu has never spoken out against China’s alleged human rights abuses, including the nation’s alleged systematic campaign of repression against Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
However, Gu has commented on Trump’s criticism of Hess for expressing “mixed emotions” about representing the U.S. in Milan Cortina.
“I’m sorry that the headline that is eclipsing the Olympics has to be something so unrelated to the spirit of the Games. It really runs contrary to everything the Olympics should be,” Gu told reporters Monday.
“The whole point of sport is to bring people together. … One of the very few common languages, that of the human body, that of the human spirit, the competitive spirit, the capacity to break not only records, but especially in our sport, literally the human limit. How wonderful is that?”
Gu also claimed she had been “caught in the crossfire” herself.
“As someone who has got caught in the crossfire before, I feel sorry for the athletes,” Gu said. “I hope that they can ski to their very best.”
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Gu’s comments have incited backlash on social media, with many critics pointing out that Gu has never spoken out against China for its alleged human rights violations.
Former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom blasted Gu in a lengthy X post, calling her a “traitor.”
“Eileen Gu is a traitor. She was born in America, raised in America, lives in America, and chose to compete against her own country for the worst human rights abuser on the planet, China. She built her fame in a free country, then chose to represent an authoritarian regime while cashing in on endorsements linked by watchdog groups to mass detention and forced labor camps. When human rights come up, she disappears,” Kanter wrote.
“That’s not neutrality. That’s a choice. She chose to play for a country responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of its own people and that is running concentration camps right now, instead of the country where she was born and given opportunity.”
Hudson Institute senior fellow Michael Sobolik also pointed out Gu’s silence on China’s alleged persecution of Uyghurs and the political imprisonment of individuals who oppose Xi Jinping.
“Listen, it’s fine for athletes to criticize the U.S. president. It also isn’t that interesting because it happens all the time. What’s interesting about this story … is that Eileen Gu is an American skier competing for China. No mention about whether the CCP’s genocide of Uyghurs ‘runs contrary to everything the Olympics should be.’ No criticism of Xi Jinping for the imprisonment of Jimmy Lai, Pastor Ezra Jin, Gulshan Abbas, or China’s many other political prisoners,” Sobolik wrote on X.
“If you criticize America but won’t say a word about the CCP, that says a lot about you. If you’re an American athlete that leverages the freedom this country has given you to represent an authoritarian regime, that says even more.”
Republican communications specialist Matt Whitlock echoed similar criticism of Gu in an X post.
“Can’t imagine a worse voice on this topic than an athlete who threw away her American citizenship for Chinese Communist Party endorsement deals. Does Eileen Gu have any criticism for Xi Jinping for genocide, slavery, and arresting dissenters?” Whitlock wrote.
Several other X users spoke out against Gu.
Trump has been one of the most discussed figures at this year’s Winter Olympics, and several athletes have made suggestive criticisms of his handling of the U.S., including Hess.
Trump made a scathing post on social media, calling Hess a “real loser.”
“U.S. Olympic Skier, Hunter Hess, a real Loser, says he doesn’t represent his Country in the current Winter Olympics,” he wrote.
“If that’s the case, he shouldn’t have tried out for the Team, and it’s too bad he’s on it. Very hard to root for someone like this. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Hess originally said of representing the U.S., “It brings up mixed emotions to represent the U.S. right now, I think. It’s a little hard. There’s obviously a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of, and I think a lot of people aren’t.
“I think, for me, it’s more I’m representing my friends and family back home, the people that represented it before me, all the things that I believe are good about the U.S. If it aligns with my moral values, I feel like I’m representing it. Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the U.S.
“I just kind of want to do it for my friends and my family and the people that support me getting here.”
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