Key points
- Eileen Gu responded to Vice President J.D. Vance’s suggestion that U.S.-raised athletes “should” compete for the United States with a cool, public clap-back: “Flattered. Thanks, JD!”.
- Vance told Fox News he’ll “root for American athletes” and said he hopes those who benefited from U.S. opportunities choose to represent the United States.
- Gu says much of the backlash is political and that she sometimes feels like a “punching bag” for anti-China sentiment — she’s also reported threats and harassment amid the row.
Eileen Gu — the American-born freeskier competing for China at Milan-Cortina — answered the political heat with a short, media-ready riposte that shifted attention from partisan debate back to sport and identity. Her one-line reply, delivered after Vance’s Fox interview, was framed by interviews where she described feeling targeted and exhausted by politicized criticism of her dual heritage and career choices.
Eileen Gu Fires Back– Why it matters: the exchange spotlights how elite athletes with transnational backgrounds become symbols in geopolitical culture wars. Gu’s response mixes deflection, pride in dual identity and an insistence that athletic achievement — and athletes’ own choices — shouldn’t be weaponized for political theater. Watch for further reactions from U.S. officials, Olympic bodies and social feeds; the story is as much about national identity as it is about one athlete’s performance on the snow.