Eileen Gu at the Mascot Ceremony of Freestyle skiing – Women's Halfpipe at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics in Lausanne on January 20, 2020. (Photo: Wikipedia)
California Girl Eileen Gu Wins Two Gold and a Silver Medal……..For China?
Many believe she is deserving of 30 pieces of silver as well
By Martin Marks, February 24, 2022 6:34 am
I know, I know. Sure, I promised to boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China—and with good reason. To repeat, the Chi-Comms are truly awful. They are indisputably an authoritarian repressive regime rife with human rights abuses and outright genocide. Let’s also not forget where this damned COVID virus that has dominated our lives for more than two years originated. Evidently many joined the boycott. Viewership ratings were down precipitously from just four years ago to the tune of 42%. And even if you were not specifically tuning in, it was hard to miss the marquee stories of the 2022 winter games continually being reported in the media.
While the drop in viewership can no doubt be attributed at least in part to so many not wanting to have anything to do with an event held in Red China, there are other reasons why NBC television and their associated streaming services might have hemorrhaged viewers during the 2-week competition. Sparsely attended venues devoid of enthusiastic international fans gave these games a rather empty feel. After Russia was caught committing perhaps the biggest drug doping scandal in sports history in the 2014 Sochi Winter Games, Russian athletes are still farcically allowed to compete; not representing their nation, but rather the Russian Olympic Committee. And of course this came right back to bite the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the biggest story coming out of Beijing was yet another Russian athlete testing positive for a banned drug—and still being allowed to compete in the Women’s Figure skating competition.
And then there is the story of California Girl Eileen Gu.
Eileen Gu, the daughter of a Chinese mother and an American father was born and raised in San Francisco, CA where she attended University High School. She was a standout athlete there and under the tutelage of her mother, became a world-class skier, excelling in the freestyle aerial versions of the sport. After achieving much acclaim and success on the junior skiing circuit on Team USA, Gu made the decision to switch allegiances and ski under the Chinese banner which ultimately led to her decision to represent the People’s Republic of China in the Olympics. According to Gu:
“Through skiing, I hope to unite people, promote common understanding, create communication, and forge friendships between nations. If I can help to inspire one young girl to break a boundary, my wishes will have come true.”
Well, these are some inspiring and lofty motivations, no doubt. On the surface her apparent selflessness is hard to scrutinize. But……Consider:
- For an American athlete to participate under the flag of another nation in the Olympics based upon the heritage of a parent or dual citizenship is nothing new. Yet, these are typically athletes who were not good enough to make the U.S. team and the only way to fulfill the Olympic dream was to compete under the banner of another nation. Not true for Ms. Gu, as she is the preeminent skier in her disciplines and could just as easily won multiple medals for the U.S., where she was born, raised, educated, trained, and enjoyed every other privilege of American life.
- China does not allow dual citizenship as many other nations do. While she would not publicly admit to such, Gu most likely would have had to renounce her American citizenship and relinquish her U.S. passport to participate with the Chinese Olympic team.
- Inspiring young Chinese girls to take up skiing is a lovely thought, yet Ms. Gu has evidently not considered that Red China is perhaps one of the most repressive regimes that civilization has ever known. Behind the horror stories of genocide and forced labor pervasive in Communist China for decades, it is not unusual to also hear tales of children as young as four who show athletic promise be torn away from their families into years of brutal training regimens to prepare them for the world stage.
- And while Eileen Gu can be considered “just a kid” of 18, she is evidently smart enough to have been aware of the above and recognize that Communist China hardly has the best interests of their young girls at heart when they first click into their first pair of skis. After all, NBC sports commentators continually went out of their way to fawn over Gu’s apparent intelligence, touting her stellar academic career at Pacific Heights’ University High School, near perfect SAT scores, and acceptance to prestigious Stanford University.
Of course, one could legitimately ask why athletes should not vie in competition simply for the love of the game? Certainly a beautiful sentiment, but let’s not kid ourselves. International sport, and the Olympics in particular, are more than just tinged with uber-nationalism. Geopolitics play a strong role in athletic competition and all too often, athletes find themselves as pawns in those struggles. That will likely continue indefinitely.
In the lead up and aftermath of the 2022 Beijing games, Eileen Gu has been at the center of praise for her valor and also derision for her decision to participate with one of America’s greatest rivals in sport and beyond. She has evidently been the subject of death threats and other promises of bodily harm. This is truly pathetic, yet not too surprising in our world of social media relative anonymity. At the very least, Eileen Gu could arguably be deemed a (former) American who turned her back on her country and in addition to her Olympic medals, be worthy of 30 pieces of silver.
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american propaganda at its finest
The Chinese are pleased with your compliance and you will be a great propagandist for the PRC. As far as I am concerned Comrade Gu can return to her new home country, China.
The medals will be forever tarnished by treatment of the Chinese population, Uyger people (slave labor, organ harvesting, indoctrination), and treatment of Olympic athletes (isolation, psychological damage, not being permitted to compete)… called ‘Genocide Games’ for a reason. Perhaps Eileen Gu should bow out gracefully and return to Chy-na.
Is her nickname “Fang Fang”???
This drivel sounds exactly like the hollow sound-bites that the CCP puts out all the time, where they sanitize their bad behavior and utter corruption with sweet-sounding platitudes and word salad :
““Through skiing, I hope to unite people, promote common understanding, create communication, and forge friendships between nations. If I can help to inspire one young girl to break a boundary, my wishes will have come true.””
Traitor….go back to China….
There have been some interesting background stories written about her mother’s background and rumored her father is unknown to her as her Mom chose to use a “bank” to father her child late in life. Chinese/American journalists believe the CCP must approve any move made by her mother, a Chinese citizen. Eileen Gu may have always been expected by her mother to represent her home country of China.
I am posting one link as to why some consider her to be a traitor. Another news source alludes to more devious intentions, which I do not feel comfortable printing as I cannot verify.
https://gnews.org/2061654/
Sounds like money may I say mat have been involved. Gu should be allowed to live in the CCP.
American citizens who renounce their citizenship are put on a registry. Gu is not on that registry. A Canadian hockey player who played for China said he was not required to give up his Canadian citizenship. And the International Olympic Committee does not require an athlete to be a citizen of the country they represent at the Olympics. At least 2 Americans represented Great Britain in the Olympics. Why did no one complain about them? While I am not happy about Gu’s decision to represent China, she broke no rules and very likely continues to be an American citizen. And her behavior, charting her own course, is a very American thing to do, and not very Chinese at all
Agree , I think some accusation are product of fanatic patriotism and 0 good sense .
I think that is very positive for US , to show that freedom of speech e xpresion is reel..
She have golds medal.for her .
And show in US and occidental we have the free choice ..
Call here a traitor is been more with the philosophy
of China .
So thank you Miss Gu for your grace , hability and smile.
Ignorance is the danger in the world
No healthy and beautiful .Athlete .
God willing
Rafael.
Bravo
All I can say is : what are you doing in US if you love the country that will abuse you, go back to china.
Well…if she wishes to show how the current Chinese culture treats Uyghers, free thinkers, free speech, free press, freedom of religion, women’s rights and political opinions…then I suggest she packs her bags, and heads straight over to her selected Nirvana which obviously offers greater freedoms and liberties than are available in her native USA! Oh yeah…and you’ll have to give up your passport too MS. Gu, as the CCP does not recognize dual citizenship. Good luck moron!
Viewership may be down in the US, but overall it appears to be up. More Chinese tuned into this Winter Games than past ones. I believe Eileen is genuine in her goals to unite the 2 nations of people, and to promote the sport she loves to women in China and have reached out to millions. For someone with the 2 persons closest to her from China, and having spent 25% of her life in China growing up, I can see the reasons for her choice. The animosity here against her is because she inspired people and won medals for China. Look, she did not do it for any government, she wanted to inspire women in China. We are certainly not accusing common everyday women in China for committing crimes against humanity. We Americans should be proud of what Eileen has achieved.
Traitor…CCP puppet…
You should be deported to the CCP!
Ms. Gu’s mother is Chinese! She is an adult & she can make her mind to join a country she loves!
There is no genocide in China! That’s biggest lie made up by US government & it media!! US forgot how the native Americans got almost wiped out in the hands of US government! That’s the real Genocide!! Can’t believe a writer could write things about China & CLEARLY never been there before!!
This article is racist at the finest. And pretending the US stands for freedom and human rights is bullshit. If anything might be of convenience for the country, fuck freedom and human rights. Money and power is more important. Shitty american thinking
American nationalists/White supremacists: “HEY YOU, GO BACK TO CHINA!”
Eileen Gu: “Alrighty, I like China!”
American nationalists/White supremacists:
“NOOO! YOU X*#&$@x!! TRAITOR!!!”
Eileen Gu: “cry abt it”
But she’s not going back to China, is she? Switches to play for oppresive China, then chooses American university to attend and I am sure she will be staying in the U.S. for her lifetime to spend that Chinese money. Hypocrite much?
100% this is all about money. Somewhere along the way she was “identitied and chosen” by the Chinese government to be a pawn. They made sure she got all the sponsorships and commercial money so they could claim her as an idol for their Olympics .
I have to question how smart this girl really is to have fallen into this trap.
She may soon find out how fun it is to play with the Chinese. Tennis anyone?
I am disappointed with the American press. Over the last 55 years, I thought we had free press, but I no longer think so. Case in point, I believe we have censorship just like the CCP. With the multitude of articles accusing China of underming the Uyghur, even genocides in the last couple of months, there is not once single article giving the proper context for the Uyghur situation. I have not seen it mentioned any where how this all started. It started with radical Muslim terrorists activities among Uyghur population. Yes, CCP may have over reacted. When WTC twin tower was brought down, we invaded Iraq and Afghanistan where hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians were killed. Yes we overreacted too. So stop this juvenile WE GOOD YOU BAD nonsence !
In China religious persecution includes Christians and Buddhists. The persecution is horrific and not isolated to one community.
Go cry about it. Go Gu, love you
A bank branch manager of Bankc of America in my city, a white American man in his mid 30s, asked me a few years ago when I went there to open an account: “where is Beijing? Is that an island?” I told him to go back to middle school.
This is BS.
If I were Eileen, I’d do the same. She got a way better treatment both fame and financially in China than she could ever do in the US.
Also, there ain’t a genocide. The Uyghur population is rising, there are famous Uyghur stars like diliraba, the UN toured it and there’s no problem.
Also even of ther is a genocide how tf does competing in sports help it? You help carry poison while skiing or what?
Lmao xD. This propaganda is dumb crap lol.
So many sour people here. There are Canadians got medals for US also. I don’t see so many sour Canadians crying online. Save Californian faces!
As an Asian American she was probably been told to go back to her country by racist Americans everytime she won a national championship. She simply complied to their request.
There are 14billion Chinese people and 99.99999% of them do NOT commit genocide or racial violence. These hard working and nice people, just like Eileen herself, are what she chose to represent. On the other hand, in the US, more than 50% chose a racist president back in 2016, and the fact that media in this country chose to targeted her, and not those American white men who are also on China Olympic team, or name and shame the thousands of white men executives who offshore jobs to China for economic profit, is itself reflective of the racism in this country.
Eileen represents the 99.9999% of Chinese people who don’t conduct genocide racial violence etc. There is a more severe form of racial problem in this country. More than half of people chose a racist president in 2016. The fact that medias in this country chose Eileen who is Chinese, and didn’t choose to attack the other white Americans men who has no connection to China but who still chose to play for China reflects this as well. Speaking of seeking economic profit, when was the last time media name and shame the thousands white men CEO chose to outsource American jobs to China??
All, the time. It’s not just white men CEO, Carly Fiorini ring a bell she was the CEO of Hewlett Packard, during the early 2000s and as soon as Nafta hit ahe ship over 50000 California jobs to China and over 100000 US jobs, elsewhere the moment that she could. She wondered why she was hated during her run for Governor and then President. The People of the US will forgive but we won’t forget what you have done in destroying our livelyhoods. Bill Gates should be thrown in jail for Treason. He developed software for the US government then decided along with his Board of Assholes, not to sell it to the US government, then shopped it around the world to see who can give him more money for it and he eventually chose China too. Did I mention it was skunkworks facial recognition software. Meant to track Al Queda and other known terrorists world wide. Now the Chinese government use it to find deserters as they call them and have them executed here in the US and abroad. Eileen Gu can eat a fat dick for all I care. I hope she likes living behind the Red curtain the rest of her life. Them again this is California Gavin Newsom is a moron and will welcome her back with Open arms.
Eileen represents the 99.9999% of Chinese people who don’t conduct genocide racial violence etc. There is a more severe form of racial problem in this country. More than half of people chose a racist president in 2016. The fact that medias in this country chose Eileen who is Chinese, and didn’t choose to attack the other white Americans men who has no connection to China but who still chose to play for China reflects this as well. Speaking of seeking economic profit, when was the last time media name and shame the thousands white men CEO chose to outsource American jobs to China??
people shouldn’t make a big deal out of the sellout gu. matter of fact, everyone should careless about the olympics since they already have been bought off by the ccp. americans should treat the olympics like the way we treat ping pong…lol!
The answer is simple…$40,000,000 worth of advertising in China alone. It’s a very strategic and lucrative move. So basically just sold her soul.
Gu is about money. She doesn’t care for the people in China. Her speech was written by CCP, and she is a CCP propaganda. This girl and her family are part of the CCP party, hence, they can do whatever they want that the citizens do not have the same rights. The US is too soft when it comes to the CCP.
I agree with everyone that calls her a traitor because she IS exactly that! Do you seriously believe she wants to reunite the two countries? He’ll no! It’s all about money! TRAITOR! I refused to watch any of the Olympics this year, especially when the Americans were representing China! Gu go live in China! If living in China was so good, why did her parents come to the United States? Give up US citizenship and live in China permanently; I bet you and your family would be begging to come back. If I was US and had the power, I would never take any of you or anyone that betrayed the USA. back!
I agree with everyone that calls her a traitor because she IS exactly that! Do you seriously believe she wants to reunite the two countries? He’ll no! It’s all about money! TRAITOR! I refused to watch any of the Olympics this year, especially when the Americans were representing China! Gu go live in China! If living in China was so good, why did her parents come to the United States? Give up US citizenship and live in China permanently; I bet you and your family would be begging to come back. If I was US and had the power, I would never take any of you or anyone that betrayed the USA.
Yeah.. so much negativity only after she got gold. Wonder why Martin didn’t bitch about Zhu Yi, who by the way is also a born and bred California girl. Oh right, because she didn’t get any medal. This is how much american patriotism is worth. Pathetic.
This piece of article, I said that in my tweeter account before the Olympics ended, just happy that some or majority people share the same. Yeah, for China!. Her family should think of removing themselves of the privileges of America. Seriously! I admire Nathan Chen, Alysia Liu , Sunni Lee and their families for doing something for the American flag. To the Gu family just leave America and let your daughter study at the University of Beijing
I suggest she remains in China!
Lmfao another American propaganda guzzling microbrain crying about things they don’t understand because “muh china bad”. You don’t need to be a citizen of X country to compete for their national team, you just need to have been a resident there for at least 6 months or somewhere around there. I.e Gu doesn’t need to “rEliNqUiSh HeR cItIZeNshIP yee haw”. Funny how none of you are bitching over the Chinese Olympic men’s ice hockey team that is literally 95% white American dudes who were told “Hey, come play for our KHL team for a season and then you can represent China at the Olympics”, they probably thought that was cool because they sure as shit weren’t getting on the US team, so that’s what they did. Where’s your outrage over how they’re traitors and need to be barred from returning? Oh yeah, you don’t care because they’re a bunch of white dudes.
I wouldn’t take her to a dance. She obviously doesn’t ‘Dance with the one that brung her.’
The author of this “HIT PIECE” is filled with too much venom to be considered reasonably thoughtful. Next time remember the adage of “protesting too much.” should you care to be credible.
Former Mayor Martin Marks is an example of a person who has been indoctrinated to thinking the “American” way. He forgets that the USA HAD ITS OWN HISTORY of genocide when it comes to the American Indian Tribes.. The American version is we took these so-called savages and Civilized them. I yes, he likes to play the Trump virus hate card against the Chinese while conveniently forget that the 1918 , So-called Spanish Flu, may have actually begun in Kansas and spread to the rest of the world, killing millions upon millions of people.
The the former Mayor wants to smear Eileen Gu and make her out to be a person who turned her back on America. What she is trying to do is build better relations between America and China. She is not a hate monger,. She has taken the high road, contrary the author’s positions. Her approach is building bridges while the author is just the opposite.
Good lord Martin, being a “retired endodontist”, are you really this naive? After staring into mouths all you life, try using your time to develop some depth in your understanding of the world and gain some perspectives beyond the American molars. All the tired propaganda tropes that you spewed really make your article sound like it’s written by a high school kid that has never been out of New Jersey.
If she competed as a Chinese national, it was her choice. If China does not allow dual-citizenship, (they don’t) then she must have renounced her US citizenship. So, require her to apply for a Visa if she wants to return to the USA, and make sure that she is treated the same (no better no worse) as any other Chinese citizen. However, if she has not acquired her Chinese citizenship and passport yet, she should not be allowed to travel to or around the United States. The same treatment any other non-american that wants to travel to the US gets. And congratulations to her on her Olympic medals in her new homeland, China.
dumb
Usa lies about genocide in China just like it lied about so many other things like weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
Many of these comments are just ripe with racism and Chinese hate. We don’t bat an eye when an American competes for another country if they are white or black. And don’t give me that dual citizenship reason…many of you are just racist.
Cry more, snowflake!!!!
The Olympics are a joke anyway, the whole thing was a disgrace