Snowboard Olympic champion Chloe Kim has voiced her support for Chinese ski freestyle star Eileen Gu. “I know how difficult it is for her. It’s not fair how she’s being treated,” said the American on Thursday after becoming the first woman to win Olympic gold in the halfpipe for a second time.
Gu, who was born in California and won her first of up to three possible gold medals for China in the Big Air competition in Beijing, had recently received numerous hate comments on social media from the USA.
“I’m proud that she made her decision at 15,” Kim said. At the time, her friend Gu asked her about the reasons for her decision in favor of the USA. Kim’s father immigrated to the United States from South Korea in 1982: “My family and my fans made the difference. But everyone has their own reasons,” she said. A comparison with Gu is “not fair”.
Kim was there as a friend for Gu
After her triumph on the hill in Shougang, Gu wrote to her “because the situation was difficult for her,” reported Kim: “It’s my job then to be there for her as a friend.”
The 18-year-old part-time model is a “heartwarming, talented and smart woman,” said Kim: “The fact that she wins gold in her first competition here in her first games is just crazy.”
Numerous insults can currently be found online under the hashtag #eileengutraitor, loosely translated as “Eileen Gu, the traitor”. Gu endorses human rights abuses and is the new face of communist oppression, other comments say.