Eileen Gu, the American-born Olympic skier who chose to represent Team China at the Winter Games, was honored at Chinese New Year celebrations in San Francisco on Saturday.
Gu was the grand marshal for the parade and expressed in an interview before the festivities what the honor meant to her.
“This is a special thing to be grand marshal, and be part of it,” she told KGO-TV.
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Gu recalled attending the parade with her family when she was younger and the times her mother and grandmother would cook in the kitchen.
The three-time gold medalist told the station she was focusing on making a bigger impact around the world.
“My biggest goal has always been making the greatest amount of positive impact on the global stage that I possibly can,” she said. “At this moment in time, that takes the form of sport, fashion and education.”
Gu came under fire during the Olympics, receiving criticism for bucking the chance of competing for Team USA and representing the nation she was born in.
She reflected on the decision last week.
“I gave my first speech on women in sports and title IX when I was 11 years old. I talked about being the only girl on my ski team, and, despite attending an all-girls’ school from Monday through Friday, becoming best friends with my teammates on the weekends through the common language of sport,” Gu wrote on Instagram.
Gu went on to express gratitude for the one season in which she did compete for the U.S.
EILEEN GU REFLECTS ON DECISION TO LEAVE TEAM USA FOR CHINA: ‘A LOT OF PEOPLE JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND’
“When I was 15, I announced my decision to compete for China. At the time, I had spent one season on the US team, and had been lucky enough to meet my heroes in person. I am forever grateful for that season, and continue to maintain a close relationship with the team. I had spent every summer in China since I was 8 setting up summer camps on trampoline and dry slope for kids and adults, ranging from 7 to 47 years old, so I knew the industry was tiny. I felt like I knew everyone,” she added.
“Skiing for Team China meant the opportunity to uplift others through the universal culture of sport, and to introduce freeskiing to hundreds of millions of people who had never heard of it, especially with the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics around the corner.”
Gu’s statement concluded by acknowledging that certain people “don’t understand” her decision to compete for China over the U.S., while insisting the choice maximized the impact she would have.
“I can look back now, at 22, and tell 12 year old Eileen that there are now terrain parks full of little girls, who will never doubt their place in the sport. I can tell 15 year old me that there are now millions of girls who have started skiing since then, in China and worldwide,” Gu wrote.
“A lot of people won’t understand or believe that I made a decision to create the greatest amount of positive impact on the world stage that I could, at this age, given my interests and passions. Three golds and six medals later, I can confidently say what was once a dream is now a reality.”
Fox News’ Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.
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