Olympic figure skater Alysa Liu is coming to the defense of her fellow medalist, Eileen Gu, after some controversy during the 2026 Winter Olympic Games.
“I’ve known Eileen since I was 13 or something. We’re from the Bay Area. She’s super nice, and her mom is from China,” Liu, 20, told the New York Times on Thursday, March 6. “I think people are hypocritical for shaming her for representing China. So, in my head, it’s a bit hypocritical, because her mom is an immigrant. Y’all would have told her to go back to China. Now that they’re back in China, you’re mad.”
She continued, “And it’s sport, it doesn’t matter what country we represent. Sport is sport, and she has a love for competition, she has love for the game. I think that’s all that matters. There’s no shame in going to where opportunity is.”
Gu, 22, was at the center of some discourse after she decided to represent China at the Games, despite being born in San Francisco.
Both her and Liu were born in California to Chinese and American parents.
Gu opted to represent China — where her mother, Yan Gu, is from — prior to competing at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
The chatter reached a pinnacle when United States Vice President JD Vance decided to criticize the Olympic skier.
“I certainly think that somebody who grew up in the United Sates of America, who benefited from our education system, from the freedoms and liberties that make this country a great place, I would hope they want to compete with the United States of America,” Vance, 41, told Fox News on February 17. “So, I’m going to root for American athletes, and I think part of that is people who identify themselves as Americans. That’s who I’m rooting for this Olympics.”
“I’m flattered. Thanks, JD! That’s sweet,” Gu responded to USA Today on February 19. “So many athletes compete for a different country… people only have a problem with me doing it because they kind of lump China into this monolithic entity, and they just hate China. So it’s not really about what they think it’s about.”
Gu added, “And also, because I win. Like if I wasn’t doing well, I think that they probably wouldn’t care as much, and that’s OK for me.”
Gu — who became the most decorated female freestyle skier in Olympic history with her three medals at the 2026 Games — speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese and spent many of her summers in Beijing.
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