American-born Team China skier Eileen Gu commented on Team USA figure skater Alysa Liu’s historic gold medal in the women’s free skate final Thursday at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
After Liu became the first American women’s figure skater to win an individual Olympic medal in 20 years and first to win a gold in 24 years, she made a celebratory Instagram post.
“These are for y’all,” Liu wrote in the caption of a photo holding her gold medal and the U.S. team gold.
Gu commented on the post, celebrating Liu’s victory.
“YESSSSSS,” Gu wrote in the comment section.
The two Chinese American stars have been relentlessly compared and contrasted on social media this Olympics.
Both athletes are the children of immigrants who came to the U.S. from China. But many fans and critics have been quick to point out the contrast between Liu’s story, a tale of American loyalty by an immigrant’s child, and Gu, who chose to compete for Team China when she was 15 years old despite living in California.
Arthur Liu raised Alysa and her siblings in Oakland. Yan Gu raised Eileen just across the bay in San Francisco.
Their paths diverged in 2019.
The Chinese government launched a program to recruit foreign-born athletes, primarily with Chinese heritage, to boost competitiveness, notably for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and soccer, according to The China Project.
Gu and Liu were top recruiting targets.
Gu traded in her red, white and blue for red and gold. Just months after competing in her first Freestyle Ski World Cup for the U.S. in January 2019, she competed for China for the first time in June of that year after requesting a change of nation with the International Ski Federation.
The Lius remained loyal to Team USA.
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Arthur was reportedly “not open to persuasion” to having Alysa compete for China, according to The Economist.
Both athletes competed at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Gu representing China and Liu representing the U.S.
Gu won two gold medals and one silver in freeskiing and went home to California as a new global household name for her success.
Liu finished in sixth place in women’s singles figure skating, then went into a temporary early retirement, before returning to the sport in 2024.
But in 2026, Liu is the only one with any gold after helping the U.S. win team gold and her historic individual gold on Thursday. Maybe if Gu represented USA she would have won gold.
Liu landed all her jumps and smiled during the individual final before erupting in a demonstrative celebration after she finished.
She yelled, “That’s what I’m f—ing talking about!’ and “Holy s—!” while celebrating with her team. She finished with a 226.79 total score, a 150.20 free skate score and a 76.59 short program score. It was her season-best free skate score.
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But Gu has only won two silvers so far in Italy.
An interaction Tuesday with a reporter went viral after Gu responded to a question about her winning two silver medals instead of gold so far this Olympics, suggesting the question came from a “ridiculous perspective.”
“I’m the most decorated female freeskier in history. I think that’s an answer in and of itself,” Gu said when asked if she saw her two medals as “silvers earned” or “golds lost.”
“How do I say this? Winning a medal at the Olympics is a life-changing experience for every athlete. Doing it five times is exponentially harder because every medal is equally hard for me, but everybody else’s expectations rise, right?
“The two medals lost situation, to be quite frank with you, I think is kind of a ridiculous perspective to take. I’m showcasing my best skiing. I’m doing things that quite literally have never been done before. So, I think that is more than good enough, but thank you.”
Gu will have one last chance to win gold in the women’s halfpipe final, considered her strongest event, Sunday. The event will take place a day after it was originally scheduled due to intense snow in the area.
Gu nearly lost out on any chance at a gold medal after falling in the halfpipe qualifier on Thursday. But she recovered in her second run to earn a spot in the final.
Gu has had to compete under the pressure of immense global scrutiny in response to her decision to compete for China seven years ago.
Gu was asked if she feels “like a bit of a punching bag for a certain strand of American politics” after her competition on Thursday.
“I do,” she said, according to USA Today. “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.
“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. People are entitled to their opinions.”
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