American-born Eileen Gu struck back at her many critics by winning the gold medal in the debut of freeski big air and then defiantly answering questions about why she spurned Team USA to represent China at the Beijing Games.
The 18-year-old Gu is an American citizen whose mother is Chinese. Gu estimates she has spent at least a quarter of her life in China. She sided with China in 2019, saying she wants to encourage girls and women to take up winter sports.
"If people don't believe me, if people don't like me, then that's their loss," Gu said.
"They're never going to win the Olympics."
China does not allow dual citizenship. It's unclear whether Gu, who plans to attend Stanford, gave up her US passport.
What is clear is that Gu stuck the best performance of her life at Big Air Shougang, where the ski hill is set among the imposing cooling towers and smokestacks of a closed steel mill.
She landed a double cork 1620 for the first time in her career in her final turn to stun Tess Ledeux of France. It's a move in which skiers spin 4 1/2 times while rotating twice off-axis while 20-some feet in the air.
"I want all the girls to break their boundaries," she said in Chinese, via an interpreter.
"I want them to think if Eileen can do it, I can do it."
While saying through an interpreter that Gu is an amazing athlete who is extremely competitive, Ledeux groused that her rival got lucky because she had been practicing at Big Air Shougang for weeks, a benefit of competing for the host country.
Gu was having none of that, either.
"I'm not trying to keep everyone happy," Gu responded. "I'm an 18-year-old girl out here living my best life. Like, I'm having a great time."
Tennis player Peng Shuai, who has rarely appeared publicly since accusing a Chinese official of sexual assault, was in the stands.
