Freestyle skier Eileen Gu said she was physically attacked at Stanford University for representing China at the Winter Olympics instead of her native country, the United States.
Gu began her studies there in 2022 after parents of potential students and Chinese Americans petitioned to ban her admission, The Athletic wrote on Tuesday. But that wasn’t the worst of it.
“Physically attacked on the street,” says Gu told The Athletic. “The police were called.”
“I’ve had death threats,” Gu said. “My student house was robbed.”
“I’ve experienced some things as a 22-year-old that I don’t think anyone should ever have to experience,” she added.
The Athletic wrote that it has not received a response from the school’s public safety department. HuffPost has also reached out to the department and a representative for Gu for comment.
Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images
Gu arrived on campus after gaining international fame and criticism by winning two golds and silver for China at the Beijing Games. At the Milan-Cortina Games she added two silver medals, with one event, the halfpipe, remaining.
The condemnation has raged. Ex-NBA star Enes Kanter Freedom said on Fox News this week that Gu was a “traitor” who has chosen an “authoritarian regime” after host Laura Ingraham portrayed her as an ingrate who is now joining the communists.
Vice President JD Vance also threw shade at Gu. He said he was in favor of U.S. Olympic athletes “identifying as Americans.”
Gu, who initiated her team change in 2019, has defended her choice to compete for motherland China because “the US already has the representation.”
She has dismissed speculation that her decision was based on financial windfalls, even though that is part of her reported income of $23 million comes of the Chinese government.
Several US-born athletes compete for other countries. Gu’s defenders have suggested that the vitriol directed at her is partly due to racism and sinophobia.
