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Add NFL MVP Boomer Esiason to the list of Americans who aren’t fans of Eileen Gu.
Gu, the Olympic medal-winning skier who was born and raised in the United States but represented her mother’s native China in international competitions, became a subject of debate again after her performance in Milan Cortina.
THE The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Gu and Zhu Yi, another American-born figure skater who now competes for China, received a total of $6.6 million from the Beijing Municipal Sports Bureau in 2025 for “striving to achieve excellent results in qualifying for the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics.” In total, the two men reportedly received nearly $14 million over the past three years.
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Silver medalist Eileen Gu of China attends the awards ceremony of the women’s big air freestyle skiing event at the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Livigno, Italy, February 16, 2026. (Hongxiang/Xinhua via Getty Images)
This information was much to the dismay of the former NFL quarterback.
“The Chinese government paid her a lot of money. It’s pretty funny that a communist country would pay a woman to do propaganda as a capitalist,” Esiason said on the “Boomer and Gio” show Tuesday morning.
“She’s a very attractive, extremely bright woman. She went to Stanford. But if you listen to her interviews after she competes, she’s insufferable. She is. It’s hard to listen to. But then again, it’s an individual sport where one person talks about themselves, instead of talking about their teammates or the support they get. If you listen to it, you’re like ‘what?'”
Chinese gold medalist Eileen Gu poses with her medals after winning the women’s freestyle skiing halfpipe final at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Esiason and her co-host, Gregg Gianotti, both made fun of the fact that a reporter praised her for seemingly always having the right answers to questions.
“They didn’t ask him about the Chinese communist government,” Esiason joked. “But the thing about her, I will say this, is that she’s exceptionally bright. She has her answers, she knows how she’s going to answer things, that’s for sure. But no one has really asked her a tough question.”
Gu, already the most decorated freestyle skier in Olympic history, won a gold medal in her final event of the Olympics on Sunday. In the women’s free ski half-pipe event, Gu scored 94.75, just 0.75 points better than her second run. No one came close to hitting his mark.
Silver medalist Eileen Gu of Team People’s Republic of China smiles while holding her faction skis and carrying her national flag during the medal ceremony for the Women’s Freeski Big Air on the tenth day of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Livigno Snow Park on February 16, 2026 in Livigno, Italy. (Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
She finished her run at the Milan Cortina Games with three medals in total: gold in halfpipe and silver in big air and slicestyle. She has six medals to her credit.
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