Eileen Gu Explores 'Malleable' Identity as an American-Raised Athlete Competing for China

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Eileen Gu caught the attention of Olympics fans for her freestyle feats on the slopes, and now the American-born skier has sparked conversation because of her choice to compete for China in the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Gu, 18, was born and raised in the U.S. to a Chinese mother and American father. She first decided to compete for China ahead of the 2015 World Cup, according to CNN, and went into more detail on the "incredibly tough decision" in 2019.

"I am proud of my heritage, and equally proud of my American upbringings," Gu wrote on Instagram. "The opportunity to help inspire millions of young people where my mom was born, during the 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help to promote the sport I love."

She concluded her post with a three emojis — an American flag, a Chinese flag and a heart — after writing, "Through skiing, I hope to unite people, promote common understanding, create communication, and forge friendships between nations. If I can help to inspire one young girl to break a boundary, my wishes will have come true."

Liu Lu/VCG via Getty Images)

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The athlete, who plans on attending Stanford University next fall, explained her dual identity while speaking to the Olympic Channel at the Lausanne 2020 Youth Winter Olympics, saying, "When I'm in China, I'm Chinese. When I'm in the US, I'm American," according to CNN.

Though Olympic rules allow athletes with dual citizenship to compete for a country in which they do not currently reside, The People's Republic of China does not recognize dual citizenship.

When asked about her citizenship by The New York Times this month, Gu did not comment.

Gu also declined to comment when asked by the Times about "the subject of China," telling the paper, "I'll pass. There's no need to be divisive. I think everything I do, it's all about inclusivity. And it's all about making everybody feel as connected as possible."

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Gu homed in on the idea of "'code switching' between different identities and roles" while guest-editing the latest issue of Vogue China's Vogue+.

"I wanted to explore and showcase the inherently malleable nature of adolescent identities," she explained on Instagram last month, adding, "I display different facets of myself (athlete, model, student, Chinese, American, teenager, writer, public persona, etc) in different environments."

Although she has avoided direct questions about her citizenship, Gu did provide more insight on her motivation to compete for China in an Instagram post on Thursday.

After learning to ski as a child in America, she "wanted to encourage Chinese skiers the same way my American role models inspired me," she wrote.

"I've always said my goal is to globally spread the sport I love to kids, especially girls, and to shift sport culture toward one motivated by passion," she added.

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Gu is one of many athletes at this year's Winter Olympics competing for countries in which they were not born.

Skier Gus Kenworthy, 30, previously took silver for Team USA in the 2014 Sochi Games and also competed in PyeongChang 2018; this year, he's representing his native United Kingdom.

Salt Lake City snowboarder Louie Vito, 33, chose to compete for Italy.

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And like Gu, figure skater Zhu Yi chose to compete for China in the Beijing Games. The 19-year-old California native suffered online attacks after falling on the ice during Monday's event, landing her in fifth after the routine.

According to CNN, Yi told reporters after Sunday's competition: "I guess I felt a lot of pressure because I know everybody in China was pretty surprised with the selection for ladies' singles, and I just really wanted to show them what I was able to do."