Eileen Gu, the California-born Olympian who has chosen to ski for Communist China instead of the United States, is feeling let down.
She voiced her concerns Saturday claiming it is “really unfair” Milan Cortina Olympics organizers are not making sufficient accommodations to allow her the same amount of training as other skiers in her third and final event, the halfpipe, as she balances the demands of the packed schedule she chose.
AP reports the outspoken Gu, who claimed silver in slopestyle earlier in the week, is the only female freeskier signed up for all three disciplines — slopestyle, halfpipe and big air in what is a packed schedule for the competitor.
The big air final Monday overlaps with the first of three, three-hour halfpipe training sessions for that event scheduled later next week.
This is not the first time Gu, who turned her back on America to embrace China, has spoken publicly about the Games.
As Breitbart News reported, Gu recently criticized President Donald Trump’s observations about Team USA freestyle skier Hunter Hess, after Hess said it was “a little hard” for him to “wear Team USA gear.” Hess also stated there is “a lot going on” in the United States he wasn’t “the biggest fan of.”
In response to Trump labeling Hess a “real Loser,” Gu said she found Trump’s “critique of Hess inconsistent with the spirit of the Games.”
Twenty-two-year-old Gu has now told reporters she contacted organizers at the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS), which sets the schedule, seeking some considerations for her competition travails in Italy, AP reports.
She said she wasn’t asking for special treatment, just the same amount of practice as everyone else was getting, and she even looked for compromises, like joining the snowboarders’ training on the halfpipe.
FIS told her it couldn’t make a change for one athlete because it wouldn’t be fair to the rest, the outlet notes.
“I’m disappointed in FIS,” Gu said. “I think the Olympics should epitomize aspiration, and I think being able to do something that’s beyond the ordinary should be celebrated instead of punished.”
After Monday’s big air final, the halfpipe qualifiers are Thursday. The final is Saturday. It means Gu will headline the last of the 25 medal events scheduled in the action-sports park.
“I think it’s really unfair. I think it’s punishing excellence, to be completely honest with you,” Gu despaired, per AP.
“Because I dare to do three events, and this is making it completely impossible to train fairly for the third event.”
An advertising video of China’s freestyle skiing champion Eileen Gu on February 18, 2022 in Wuhan, Hubei, China. Her business brands include Victoria’s Secret, Cadillac, Mengniu, Anta sports, Luckin Coffee, Louis Vuitton and more than 20 other brands. (Photo by Getty Images)
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 amid partnerships with Chinese companies, including the Bank of China, and western companies.
The freestyle ski prodigy has said she represents China for her mother, who was born there.
Gu has never spoken out publicly against China’s manifest human rights abuses, including the nation’s systematic campaign of repression against Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
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