Beijing Olympics 2022: China’s Fan Favorites, News, and Controversy Part 1

Eileen Gu (谷爱凌): Eileen Gu was born on September 3rd, 2003 in San Francisco, California. As a Chinese American, she was an activist against Asian hate in America during the Covid-19 pandemic. She was also a supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement and a major inspiration for women across the globe. Her mother, an immigrant from Beijing, was a speed skater and a skiing instructor in college. Gu, following in her mother’s footsteps, competed in freestyle skiing, and at only 18 years of age, she has won both a gold and silver medal for China. She is now the first woman ever to successfully land a left-turn 1620. However, Gu has also been experiencing backlash from the U.S. because of her decision to compete for China. Currently, she has taken China by storm as an individual loyal to her heritage and a deserving athlete. All in all, we should remember that no matter which country Gu competes for, she is an accomplished and inspirational athlete with familial roots in both China and America. Gu will head back to the United States to begin her studies at Stanford University after the Olympic Games. 

Nathan Chen (陈巍): Chinese American figure skater Nathan Chen was born on May 5th, 1999. Chen is truly a breathtaking figure skater and has been nicknamed the “Quad King” because he is the first skater to land five different types of quadruple jumps in competition. He has won medals in all types of competitions from the World Championships to the Grand Prix Final. Throughout the 2022 Olympics competition, Chen won both a silver and gold medal right in his mother’s hometown. Additionally, he broke the world record for the short program, previously set by two-time olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu. However, similar to Gu, Chen has also been experiencing backlash from China due to his comments about China’s human rights issues and is being dubbed a “traitor” by many Chinese citizens among social media platforms. Although Chen has been experiencing this backlash, his efforts have been celebrated across the United States for his valiant victory, and he is considered one of the greatest figure skaters of all time. After the skating season is over, he plans to resume his studies at Yale University for statistics and data science.

Zhu Yi (朱易): Zhu Yi was born on September 19th, 2002 in Westwood, California. She, like Gu, chose to compete for China, despite being born and raised in the United States. To skate for China, she took extreme measures and renounced her United States citizenship. Unfortunately, the Chinese media still subjected Zhu to criticism for her lack of fluency in the Chinese language and flawed skating throughout the competition. During the team skate, she fell multiple times and crashed into the boards that line the rink throughout her program, resulting in China’s ranking falling from third to fifth place. For women’s singles, Zhu’s ranking is currently quite low, sparking backlash and cyberbullying by the Chinese media. We should still remember that Zhu is still a remarkable athlete born in the United States who deserves our support for making it into such a prestigious competition. 

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eileen_Gu

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Chen

https://news.yahoo.com/u-born-olympics-star-nathan-185701785.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAE56HMU88nQ6l-b2OkjGWu1sRV0ZaxyXlZlHpr3SHWNUK6vkwY_6G3zRlKNvbmk11Zq3bakraDAzHIl9eCjScUcA2bjmsMvmCcxOmUleLZZcthIzG4oV9rR53mqZ5R9cqwPrQGYnViXHWFAfgO1JhP4IjJifV5mQg7Xzm0NQbuav

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhu_Yi_(figure_skater)