American-born Team China skier Eileen Gu commented on Team USA figure skater Alysa Liu’s historic gold medal in the women’s free skate final Thursday at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.After Liu became the first American women’s figure skater to win an individual Olympic medal in 20 years and first to win a gold in 24 years, she made a celebratory Instagram post. “These are for y’all,” Liu wrote in the caption of a photo holding her gold medal and the U.S. team gold. ALYSA LIU VS EILEEN GU — HOW TWO CHINESE AMERICAN STARS WOUND UP ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF AN OLYMPIC PROXY WARGu commented on the post, celebrating Liu’s victory.”YESSSSSS,” Gu wrote in the comment section. The two Chinese American stars have been relentlessly compared and contrasted on social media this Olympics. Both athletes are the children of immigrants who came to the U.S. from China. But many fans and critics have been quick to point out the contrast between Liu’s story, a tale of American loyalty by an immigrant’s child, and Gu, who chose to compete for Team China when she was 15 years old despite living in California.Arthur Liu raised Alysa and her siblings in Oakland. Yan Gu raised Eileen just across the bay in San Francisco.Their paths diverged in 2019.The Chinese government launched a program to recruit foreign-born athletes, primarily with Chinese heritage, to boost competitiveness, notably for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and soccer, according to The China Project.Gu and Liu were top recruiting targets.Gu traded in her red, white and blue for red and gold. Just months after competing in her first Freestyle Ski World Cup for the U.S. in January 2019, she competed for China for the first time in June of that year after requesting a change of nation with the International Ski Federation.The Lius remained loyal to Team USA.US OLYMPIAN ALYSA LIU WAS ONCE TARGETED BY CHINESE SPIES – HERE’S WHAT SHE HAS TO SAY ABOUT ITArthur was reportedly “not open to persuasion” to having Alysa compete for China, according to The Economist.Both athletes competed at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Gu representing China and Liu representing the U.S. Gu won two gold medals and one silver in freeskiing and went home to California as a new global household name for her success.Liu finished in sixth place in women’s singles figure skating, then went into a temporary early retirement, before returning to the sport in 2024. But in 2026, Liu is the only one with any gold after helping the U.S. win team gold and her historic individual gold on Thursday. Maybe if Gu represented USA she would have won gold. Liu landed all her jumps and smiled during the individual final before erupting in a demonstrative celebration after she finished. She yelled, “That’s what I’m f—ing talking about!’ and “Holy s—!” while celebrating with her team. She finished with a 226.79 total score, a 150.20 free skate score and a 76.59 short program score. It was her season-best free skate score.OLYMPIANS SPEA
Eileen Gu comments on Alysa Liu’s historic gold medal
