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As American-born Chinese team skier Eileen Gu faces increasing scrutiny at the Winter Olympics, two other Americans competing in Milan Cortina have spoken out in support of the controversial medalist.
Kelly Curtis, a veteran U.S. women’s skeleton athlete who is also a staff sergeant in the Air Force, admits she didn’t think much about Gu’s decision to represent China in the United States. Yet Curtis insists that she only has respect for Gu because of his talent and accomplishments.
“I honestly haven’t thought much about it. She’s the most decorated freestyle skier, so she’s at the top of her game, and I have nothing but respect for her,” Curtis told PK Press Club Digital.
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Silver medalist Eileen Gu of China poses for photos after the award ceremony of the women’s big air freestyle skiing event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics in Livigno, Italy, February 16, 2026. (Photo by Wang Peng/Xinhua via Getty Images) (Wang Peng/Xinhua via Getty Images)
Meanwhile, another American citizen who chooses to represent another country in the Olympics directly supports Gu’s decision to compete for China.
Israeli bobsleigh team captain AJ Edelman, who grew up in New England, has chosen to represent Israel in skeleton at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games and in bobsleigh this year. He previously told PK Press Club Digital that although he is a proud American, he would never consider representing the United States against Israel.
Edelman questioned those who criticized him for choosing China.
“Every athlete has a different athletic journey, and every athlete chooses a path in their life from that athletic journey that exists and that exists alone. I think it’s incredibly inappropriate for anyone to demand service from someone in sports for a particular reason that is not of that athlete’s own free will,” Edelman told PK Press Club Digital about Gu and the criticism she has received.
“When it comes to Eileen or any other athlete representing another country…no one has the right to question it. It’s absolutely inappropriate and extreme.”
Edelman compared Gu’s decision to his own choice to represent Israel.
“Any athlete is free to choose the athletic path they take, and I will respect that. As for my own decision to represent a country that is not the United States, I chose to do something that I felt would impact a particular community. And I felt that community would be better impacted by appearing or representing it through the State of Israel,” he added.
However, Edelman made financial sacrifices to compete for Israel, whose bobsleigh team has far fewer resources than the United States.
He previously told PK Press Club Digital that he had to live below the poverty line in order to maintain his commitment to leading the Israeli team for the past 13 years, and that he had to sell all of his bitcoins, which he said would have been worth millions today if he had kept them.
“It was all spent on bobsledding,” he said. “I’d be a megamillionaire if I still had it.”
In the meantime, Gu became a multimillionaire while representing China.
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Gu is the highest paid Winter Olympic athlete worldwide, earning an estimated $23 million in 2025 alone through partnerships with Chinese companies, including the Bank of China, and Western companies. Gu said she represented China to her mother, who was born there.
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.
Meanwhile, Gu did not address allegations of human rights abuses by China.
In an interview with TIME magazine, Gu was asked for his opinion on China’s alleged persecution of Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.
“I haven’t done any research. I don’t think it’s my business. I’m not going to make big statements on my social media,” Gu responded.
“I’m just more skeptical of data in general… So it’s not like I can read an article and go, ‘Oh, well, that must be the truth.’ I need a ton of proof. Maybe I have to go out there, maybe talk to 10 primary source people who are in a place and have experienced life there. Then I have to go see some pictures. I need to listen to recordings. I have to think about how the story affects him. Then I have to read books about how politics affects him. It’s a lifelong search…
“It is irresponsible to ask me to be the spokesperson for any program.”
Gu admitted she felt like a “punching bag” amid the backlash this winter.
“Yes,” Gu said when asked if she felt “like a punching bag for a certain aspect of American politics,” according to USA Today.
“So many athletes compete for a different country… People only have a problem with me because they kind of lump China into this monolithic entity, and they I hate China. So it’s not really about what they think. And also because I win. Like if I’m not okay, I think they probably wouldn’t care as much, and that’s okay with me. People are entitled to their opinions. »
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Eileen Gu of Team People’s Republic of China falls during the Women’s Freeski Halfpipe Qualification 1 on the thirteenth day of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics at the Livigno Aerial Park on February 19, 2026 in Livigno, Italy. (Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Gu already said she was “physically assaulted” for his decision to represent China.
“The police were called. I received death threats. My dorm was broken into,” Gu told The Athletic. “I experienced some things at 22 that I truly believe no one should ever have to endure.”
