Gu Ailing Eileen pushes back after JD Vance criticism as Olympics spotlight follows her everywhere
gu ailing eileen replied that she was “flattered” after Vice‑President JD Vance suggested US‑born athletes should represent the United States, a clash that has reopened debate around the 22‑year‑old’s decision to compete for China.
Gu Ailing Eileen answers a political jab
When asked about Vance’s comments after a qualifying run on Thursday, Gu said, “I’m flattered. Thanks, JD! That’s sweet. ” She added she was not offended and accepted that she had become a “punching bag” in US political debate, noting that many athletes compete for countries other than their birth nation.
What Vance said and where he stood at the Games
In a interview, Vance said he hoped people who grew up in the United States would want to compete for the US, citing the country’s education system and freedoms, and that he would “root for American athletes. ” He also said he had “no idea what her status should be” and that the matter was “up to the Olympic committee. ” Vance led the US delegation at these Olympics and attended the opening ceremony on 6 February in Milan, where he was met with boos in the San Siro stadium.
Medals, records and conflicting tallies from Milan‑Cortina and Beijing
Coverage of Gu’s Olympic haul has varied in its counts. One account noted she won three medals at the Milan‑Cortina Winter Olympics and described her as the most decorated freestyle skier in Olympic history with six medals, including three golds, the third gold coming in Sunday’s halfpipe; that account also said she earlier won silver medals in big air and slopestyle at Milan‑Cortina.
Another account described Gu as a five‑medal athlete, saying she won two golds and a silver at the 2022 Beijing Games and had claimed two silvers at Milano‑Cortina, with one more medal event set for Saturday in the halfpipe. The two pieces differ on the total medal tally and the split between golds and silvers.
From Beijing 2022, Gu became freestyle skiing’s youngest Olympic champion at 18 with big air and halfpipe golds and added a slopestyle silver to become the first freeskier to win three medals at the same Games.
San Francisco roots, Stanford sabbatical and bilingual profile
Gu was born in San Francisco to an American father and a Chinese mother and attended private school in San Francisco. She is 22 and is on a sabbatical from Stanford University, where she majors in international relations and previously studied quantum physics. She is fluent in Mandarin and spent summers in Beijing as a child; she has said “sometimes it feels like I’m carrying the weight of two countries on my shoulders. ”
Why she switched, commercial clout and public lines
At 15 in 2019, Gu switched her sporting allegiance from the US to China, saying she wanted to “inspire millions of young people in Beijing – my mother’s birthplace” ahead of the 2022 Olympics. That decision has produced significant commercial returns: in December, Forbes ranked Gu the fourth‑highest paid female athlete for 2025, behind Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek. She was also named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world.
Gu has defended other athletes caught in nationality debates, including American freeskier Hunter Hess after he expressed ambivalence about representing the US; that exchange drew a social media attack from Donald Trump calling Hess a “real Loser. ” Gu has said the US already has representation in sport and that she likes “building my own pond, ” and in 2022 said she felt “just as American as I am Chinese. ”
Citizenship questions and broader Olympic movement numbers
Gu has declined to publicly share her citizenship status, and China does not permit dual citizenship. The Olympic charter states that “a national of two or more countries at the same time may represent either one of them. ” More than 15 American‑born athletes have won medals at these Games competing for other countries, and at least 13 foreign‑born athletes have medaled competing for Team USA.
Gu is scheduled to contest the halfpipe medal event on Saturday, which will be the next confirmed milestone for her at these Games.
