Eileen Gu received a massive welcome on her return to San Francisco to lead the city’s Chinese New Year celebrations on Saturday night.
The Winter Olympian became the most decorated freestyle Olympic skier in history at the Games in Italy last month by becoming a six-time medalist – but her success was not without controversy.
She received widespread criticism for her decision to represent China, the country of her mother’s birth, instead of the United States where she was raised. Vice President JD Vance even took a swipe at her in an interview on Fox.
But on Saturday night, she was welcomed back to her home city with open arms and received huge cheers throughout the Chinese New Year parade, where she was the grand marshal.
The procession featured drums, dancing and floats celebrating the vibrancy of the Chinese American community in the oldest celebration of its kind outside Asia and one of the largest.
Civic leaders and performers paraded from downtown to Chinatown through popping firecrackers. Children marched wearing inflatable horses while lion dancers and martial artists waved to the crowd.
Eileen Gu receieved a massive welcome on her return to San Francisco on Saturday night
The Olympic great was the star attraction as the city celebrated the Chinese New Year
Gu’s decision to represent China over the United States has been hugely controversial Â
While the celebration always draws massive crowds, attendees were especially excited for Gu, who drew loud cheers throughout.Â
In an interview with ABC7 before the celebrations began, Gu said: ‘I’m so excited. The San Francisco Chinese New Year parade is, like, none other. San Francisco is such a special city, and I will not shut up about it to anybody who will listen.’
While Gu, 22, enjoyed huge success at the Winter Games, it ended on a sad note as she learned about her grandmother’s death shortly after winning gold in the freestyle half pipe.
Reflecting on her death a few weeks later, Gu said Saturday: ‘I remember growing up making dumplings with my mom and grandma. My grandma was the best at packing those so full of filling. It’s, like, impossible to believe how she got them closed.
‘She and I were massively close, and I’m so grateful to have had the time that I had with her.
‘She has this indomitable spirit, and I think that it’s almost impossible not to live on with that spirit.’
Gu, a student at Stanford University, was raised in San Francisco but opted to represent China when she was a teenager. Seven years later, it is still a big source of controversy.Â
‘Somebody who grew up in the United States of America, who benefited from our education system, from the freedoms and liberties that make this country a great place, I would hope they would want to compete with the United States of America,’ the Vice President Vance said in a Fox interview in February.
The 22-year-old Gu said before the parade how much she loves her home city of San Francisco
Gu also studies at Stanford University near San Francisco around her sporting obligations
‘So, I will root for American athletes and I think part of that is people who identify themselves as Americans. That’s who I am rooting for this Olympics.’
Gu has been branded ‘shameful’ by conservative commentators for representing China – seen as a ‘sports-washing’ coup for America’s Communist adversary.
China has leveraged Gu’s glamorous, Western-educated image to deflect international condemnation over the repression of Uyghur Muslims and the dismantling of democratic freedoms in Hong Kong.
Gu has been physically attacked on her college campus, received death threats and is relentlessly pressed by the media on geopolitics.
‘Things don’t get easier,’ she told The Athletic during the Games. ‘You just get stronger.’
She added: ‘It’s hard. I’ve gone through some things as a 22-year-old that I really think no one should ever have to endure, ever.’
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Polarizing Eileen Gu leads Chinese New Year celebrations on return to San Francisco from Winter Olympics