Eileen Gu responds to JD Vance after he criticized her for representing China over USA
Eileen Gu has responded to JD Vance who said he only planned to cheer on Team USA's athletes, despite Gu being an American citizen.
Gu has made headlines at the recent Winter Olympics by becoming the most decorated freeskier of all time with a very impressive six Olympic medals to her name, despite the fact she's only 22.
Gu was born and raised in San Francisco, California, but represented China at Milano-Cortina 2026 as her mother is Chinese.
The fact that she opted to represent China instead of Team USA ruffled some people's feathers, sparking Martha MacCallum to ask Vice President JD Vance about the matter when he came on Fox News earlier this month and grilled him on whether Gu's status should be changed.
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"Look, I've no idea what her 'status' should be," he replied. "I think that's ultimately up to the Olympics committee. I won't pretend to wade into that."
Vance continued: "I certainly think that somebody who grew up in the United States of America, who benefitted from our education system, from the freedoms and liberties that make this country a great place... I would hope that they would want to compete with the United States of America.
"So I'm going to root for American athletes, and I think part of that is people who identify themselves as Americans. That is who I'm rooting for at this Olympics."
The Winter Olympics wrapped up on Sunday (February 22) with Team USA bringing home an impressive 33 medals.
Meanwhile China finished with 15, three of which were won by Gu.
The Olympian has since responded to Vance's remarks and is somewhat unbothered about what he said.
She said, per Fortune: "So many athletes compete for a different country. People only have a problem with me doing it because they kind of lump China into this monolithic entity, and they just hate China. So it's not really about what they think it's about."
Gu added: "Like, if I wasn’t doing well, I think that they probably wouldn’t care as much, and that’s OK for me."
While Vance wasn't rooting Gu on at the Olympics, Team USA's Alyssa Liu was.
Like Gu, Liu was born in the US and her father is Chinese, but the 20-year-old figure skater opted to represent America over China.
"Eileen is doing amazing. I’ve actually known her since I was a kid," Liu said of her fellow Olympian Gu. "I’m rooting for her always."
What else has happened at the Winter Olympics?
Trump's 'distasteful' joke
During a congratulatory chat with the men's hockey team, Trump made a 'distasteful' joke about the women's team.
“I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team [to the White House], you do know that,” Trump said with a chuckle during the call while members of the men's team were seen drinking beer in a locker room with FBI director Kash Patel. If he didn't, Trump joked he would face impeachment.
FBI director Kash Patel slammed by viewers
Footage widely circulated online showed Patel dressed up in a white USA shirt, singing along with players and chugging a beer before spraying it across the locker room. Meanwhile, an armed man was shot and killed trying to sneak into one of US President Donald Trump's resort and US tourists were left stranded in Mexico after the killing of Mexico's most-wanted drug lord.
As you can imagine, people thought he might have more important things to deal with instead of celebrating a hockey win.
Eileen Gu claps back at reporter
Gu has had to stand up for herself a few times this Winter Olympics, and it was no different when a male reporter asked her a rather ridiculous question about her win.
He asked: "Do you see these as two silvers gained or two golds lost?"
Laughing, Gu replied: "I’m the most decorated female freeskier in history. I think that’s an answer in and of itself.
"How do I say this? Winning a medal at the Olympics is a life-changing experience for every athlete.
"Doing it five times is exponentially harder, because every medal is equally hard for me, but everybody else’s expectations rise, right? And so, the two medals lost situation, to be quite frank with you, I think is a kind of ridiculous perspective to take."
Lindsey Vonn's accident on the slopes
Vonn suffered a catastrophic injury during the opening traverse (February 8), after catching the ski gate with her right side before falling.
Fans watched in horror as she was seen screaming in agony on the Olympic slopes before being air lifted to seek emergency treatment.
Vonn has now undergone her fourth procedure on her broken leg after her tibia fracture.
Despite this, the sporting star hinting at making a return.
Niamh Shackleton