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Eileen Gu, the American-born Olympic skier who chose to represent the Chinese team at the Winter Games, was honored Saturday during Chinese New Year celebrations in San Francisco.
Gu was the grand marshal of the parade and expressed in an interview before the festivities what the honor meant to her.
“It’s something special to be Grand Marshal and to be a part of this,” she told KGO-TV.
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Olympic gold medalist and grand marshal Eileen Gu salutes during the Chinese New Year parade in San Francisco, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Gu remembers attending the parade with her family when she was younger and times when her mother and grandmother cooked in the kitchen.
The three-time gold medalist told the station she is striving to make a bigger impact around the world.
“My biggest goal has always been to make the biggest positive impact possible on the world stage,” she said. “Right now, that takes the form of sports, fashion and education.”
Gu came under fire during the Olympics, criticized for refusing to compete for Team USA and represent the country she was born in.
She mulled over the decision last week.
“I gave my first speech about women in sports and Title IX when I was 11. I spoke about being the only girl on my ski team, and even though I attended an all-girls school Monday through Friday, I became best friends with my teammates on the weekends thanks to the common language of the sport,” Gu wrote on Instagram.
Eileen Gu waves to the crowd during the Chinese New Year parade in San Francisco, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Gu then expressed her gratitude for the one season in which she competed for the United States.
“When I was 15, I announced my decision to compete for China. At the time, I had spent a season on Team USA and had the chance to meet my heroes in person. I am forever grateful for that season and continue to maintain a close relationship with the team. I have spent every summer in China since I was 8 years old running trampoline and dry track summer camps for children and adults, ranging from 7 at 47, so I knew the industry was small I felt like I knew everyone.” she added.
“Skiing for the Chinese team represented an opportunity to uplift others through the universal culture of sport and introduce free skiing to hundreds of millions of people who had never heard of it, especially in the lead-up to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.”
Gu’s statement concluded by acknowledging that some people “don’t understand” her decision to compete for China rather than the United States, while insisting that this choice maximized the impact she would have.
“I can look back now, at 22, and tell 12-year-old Eileen that there are now snow parks full of little girls, who will never doubt their place in the sport. I can say at 15 that there are now millions of girls who have taken up skiing since then, in China and around the world,” Gu wrote.
Gold medalist Ailing Eileen Gu of the People’s Republic of China celebrates during the medal ceremony for the women’s ski halfpipe during the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at the Snow Park in Livigno, February 22, 2026. (Nathan Ray Seebeck/Imagn Images)
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“Many people will not understand or believe that I made the decision to create the biggest positive impact possible on the world stage, at this age, given my interests and passions. Three golds and six medals later, I can confidently say that once a dream is now a reality.”
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