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The American Olympic figure skating sensation weighed in on the controversy surrounding American-born Chinese team skier Eileen Gu choosing to represent China instead of the United States.
Liu shared his thoughts and experience with Gu in an interview with The New York Times.
“I’ve known Eileen since I was like 13. We’re from the Bay Area. She’s super nice and her mom is from China. I think people are hypocritical to shame her for representing China. So in my head, it’s a little hypocritical, because her mom is an immigrant. Y’all would have told her to go back to China. Now that they’re back in China, you’re angry,” Liu said.
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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)
“And it’s sport, no matter what country we represent. Sports is sport, and she loves to compete, she loves the game. I think that’s all that matters. There’s no shame in going where the opportunities are.”
Gu was the target of global criticism during the Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina, as she won two silver medals and a gold in free skiing.
Vice President JD Vance even weighed in on Gu’s decision during an interview on PK Press Club as the Olympics were underway.
“I have no idea what his status should be, I think it’s ultimately up to the Olympic Committee, I won’t pretend to get into that,” Vance said.
“I certainly think that someone who grew up in the United States of America and who has benefited from our education system, the freedoms and liberties that make this country a great place, I would hope that they would want to compete with the United States of America. So, I will root for American athletesI think part of it comes from people who identify as Americans. This is why I support these Olympic Games.”
Gu then responded to Vance’s comment and later acknowledged that she felt like a “punching bag for a certain strand of American politics.”
“I’m flattered. Thank you, JD! That’s nice,” Gu said of Vance’s comments, 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. »
Throughout the Olympics, and especially after Liu made history as the first American to win Olympic gold in a women’s individual figure skating competition since 2002 and the first American to win a medal in the event since 2006, the two athletes have been endlessly compared on social media due to their similar backgrounds as the American children of Chinese immigrants.
Liu’s father, Arthur Liu, fled China after participating in the Tiananmen Square protests in the summer of 1989. He came to America and gave birth to Alysa through a surrogate mother and an anonymous egg donor.
Gold medalist Alysa Liu of Team USA poses for a photo during the women’s individual skating medal ceremony on the thirteenth day of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at the Milan Ice Rink on February 19, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
During this time, Gu’s mother, Yan Gu, was a student at Peking University where she studied chemistry and biochemistry, according to The New York Times. She came to the United States to earn a master’s degree, which she eventually earned at Stanford.
At age 40, Yan gave birth to Eileen and raised her as a single parent, according to Olympics.com. Not much is known about Gu’s father. Eileen has not publicly commented on him and declined to answer The New York Times’ questions about him.
Then, around 2018-2022, China accelerated a program to recruit foreign-born athletes, mainly of Chinese origin, to strengthen its competitiveness, notably for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and football, according to The China project.
Gu and Liu were the main recruitment targets.
Gu swapped his red, white and blue for red and gold. Just months after competing in her first freestyle skiing World Cup for the United States in January 2019, she competed for the first time for China in June of that year after requesting a change of country with the International Ski Federation.
In an announcement on Instagram, she said she had made the decision to “help inspire millions of young people” in China and “unite people, promote common understanding, create communication and forge friendships between nations.”
US Olympian Alysa Liu Was Once Targeted By Chinese Spies – Here’s What She Has To Say About It
The Lius remained loyal to the American team.
Arthur would have “not been convinced” that Alysa would compete for China, according to The economist.
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 need to go see pictures. I need to listen to recordings. I need to think about how history affects him. Then I need to read books about how politics affects him. It’s a lifelong pursuit. It’s irresponsible to ask me to be a spokesperson for any agenda.”
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)
Liu and her family, on the other hand, found themselves in the crosshairs of the Chinese government ahead of the 2022 Beijing Games, amid her father’s past and her own refusal to compete for China.
Before her participation in the 2022 Beijing Games, she and her father were the alleged targets of a spy operation led by the Chinese government.
Liu called the experience “a little weird and exciting.”
“You know what I mean? It’s so… incredible. You know what I mean, it’s crazy,” Liu previously told PK Press Club Digital during a panel discussion at the USOPC Media Summit in October.
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Gold medalist Alysa Liu of the United States displays her medal after competing in the women’s free skate program in figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Stéphanie Scarbrough)
“Imagine finding that at such a young age, I mean, in a weird way, I was like, ‘Am I like on a prank show?’ Like, is this world real. Like, I must be a movie character. But I mean, it felt like it made sense to me, you know, based on everything my dad did back when he was an activist.”
Since winning gold, Liu has surpassed Gu in terms of followers on social media. However, Liu also withdrew from the upcoming World Figure Skating Championships in Prague, Czech Republic.
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