US-born Winter Olympics star Eileen Gu who turned her back on America to represent China misses out on gold

Eileen Gu, the Winter Olympian who controversially chose to represent China over the USA, has sparked backlash from American fans yet again after she had to settle for silver in the women’s free ski slopestyle on Monday. 

Gu, 22, who represented Team USA until the age of 15 when she switched allegiances to China, was expected to duel Switzerland’s Mathilde Gremaud for gold at the Milan-Cortina games. 

However, the California-born athlete failed to top the Olympic podium for a second-straight games after she fell on her third and final run – all but handing the gold medal to Gremaud. 

At first, the showdown between Gu and Gremaud, the reigning Olympic champion, on the slopes of Livigno lived up to its hype with the pair going tip to tip through the first two runs but it ultimately ended in the same fashion as four years ago in Beijing. 

On the third run, Gu immediately fell off the first rail – the same element that troubled her in qualifying two days – denying her the gold. 

Gu’s unfortunate tumble was ruthlessly mocked by furious American fans, who continued to hit out at her for turning her back on the USA and competing under the Chinese flag.

‘Eileen Gu chose Communist China over the country she was born, raised, and trained. Why the hell is she being highlighted? She is a traitor,’ one viewer fumed, over NBC’s coverage of the games. 

‘Hard to watch Eileen Gu compete for China after everything the U.S. did for her training. High treason,’ a second posted on X. 

‘I’ve never seen NBC cover a Chinese athlete more. If she doesn’t want to represent the Stars and Stripes than don’t cover her. Period. We don’t care if she’s pretty and actually American. She’s not on our team,’ added a third. 

One social media user claimed that Gu’s fall was ‘karma for representing the wrong country of birth.’ 

‘Lost to the Swiss Miss,’ another mocked referring to Gremaud. 

‘No one cares. She’s an American who is paid to snowboard for China,’ one viewer bitterly declared. 

Growing up in San Francisco, learning to ski in Lake Tahoe, and being immersed in American culture, Gu – the daughter of an American father and a Chinese mother – represented Team USA until the age of 15 when she switched to the country of her mother’s birth.

Gu, who is fluent in both Mandarin and English, first came under fire in 2022 when her decision to compete under the Five-star Red Flag instead of the Star-Spangled Banner came to light ahead of the Olympics in Beijing. 

Her allegiance came under heavy criticism from American fans, who claimed her decision was solely motivated by sponsorship money from China. 

However, Gu strongly denied that the opportunity to earn more money – through representing Chinese companies – did not play a role in her decision.

‘I’m glad that there’s enough money in the sport now for people to think that’s a consideration,’ the Olympic champion told TIME Magazine last month. 

Gu explained that she wanted to represent China because she believed she could inspire more youngsters – especially girls – to take up freestyle skiing, which wasn’t popular in her mother’s homeland.

‘The US already has the representation,’ Gu told Time Magazine. ‘I like building my own pond.’ 

Before the last Olympics, Gu estimated that at least a quarter of her life had been spent in the Far East. That did not stop her from coming in for criticism.

In the aftermath of victory in Beijing, Gu was quizzed about her citizenship status. China does not allow dual citizenship and state media previously reported that she renounced her US citizenship after she became a Chinese national aged 15.

But Gu dodged questions about whether she had given up her US citizenship four years ago. And she told TIME: ‘I don’t really see how that’s relevant.’

Despite her switch, Gu’s career has continued to blossom away from the slopes as well with American brands continuing to throw endorsement deals at her.

Over the years, she has enjoyed significant sponsorship deals from American brands like Cadillac, Tiffany’s, Visa, Therabody, Victoria’s Secret and Oakley.

Last year, Gu emerged as the fourth highest paid female athlete, according to Sportico. She earned a staggering $23million in 2025, almost entirely from her endorsement deals. 

However, China’s golden girl failed to take home the gold as she was denied for a second-straight games by Gremaud. 

Gremaud won the final with a score of 86.96 from the best of her three jumps, while Gu again took silver behind her Swiss rival with her best effort of 86.58. 

Gu needed a huge score on her final run when she had one last chance to better Gremaud, but that effort barely lasted. Gu skittered off the first rail and toppled to her side, dashing her title hopes. 

Knowing she had locked up the gold after Gu fell, Gremaud tied a Swiss flag around her neck and wore it like a cape as she cruised down the course on her victory lap. After coming off the course, she embraced her teammates to celebrate her fourth career Olympic medal. Nearby, ecstatic supporters waved Swiss flags.

Gremaud, who turned 26 the day before the final, has now beaten Gu twice in Olympic finals by the slightest of margins: 0.33 points in 2022, and 0.38 in 2026.

‘I think if we were to replay this contest 10 times, I think there are several instances where I would have won and several others where she would have won and maybe several other instances where neither of us did,’ Gu said. ‘That´s what´s so beautiful about contest skiing; it´s about who can perform on the day.’

Gu led after the first of three runs when she nailed her routine, but Gremaud laid down her winning run on her second go to move to the top of the points table. Gu then wobbled off the rail on her second run; even though she kept her balance, but the mistake resulted in a low score.

That same rail section had caused Gu to fall during Saturday’s qualifying, when she had to execute perfectly on a second go to advance to the final.

But when it mattered most on Monday and Gu had her last shot to snatch a win, the result was the same: Just seconds into her run she went tipping off the rail and tumbled in the snow.

More to follow.