Winter Olympics

It seems like every Olympics has athletes that were born and raised in another country (often America) that are competing for a different country (usually where one or both of their parents are from - but sometimes if I remember right not even that)

The reason given is often to honor their heritage or parents homeland (My cynical side wonders if it's more, "You aren't good enough to make the American Olympic Team but you can make the (your parents home country) team

I've never seen it been such a huge deal as it is this time around

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Eileen Gu is without a doubt the breakout star of the Winter Olympics. The 18-year-old's blockbuster performance in the ski big air contest on Tuesday was an early highlight of the games, giving China its first gold on snow in Beijing 2022.

But she is also being drawn into the increasingly politicized nature of the games, which saw a diplomatic boycott from the US, Canada, UK, and Australia over China's oppression of Uyghurs in the region of Xinjiang.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki cited "genocide and crimes against humanity" committed by China as a driving force of the boycott. Despite widespread evidence of the persecution of Uyghurs, China has consistently denied any wrongdoing, and accused Western nations of seeking to politicize the games.

Meanwhile, Gu, with her mixed heritage — her father is American and her mother is Chinese — has been sucked into the spat, with Chinese media seeking to turn her decision to represent the country instead of the US into a diplomatic win.

Before she'd even taken to the slopes, Gu's choice to represent China was used by some Chinese outlets to demonize Western nations..........

While Gu has enjoyed great success at Beijing, another American-born athlete competing for China, 19-year-old Zhu Yi, has been less fortunate, and also dragged into the US-China war of words.

Zhu, who was born in Los Angeles but reportedly gave up her US citizenship for a Chinese one in 2018, went viral on Chinese social media after falling twice during her debut.

The 19-year-old was flooded with negative comments online, and the hashtag "Zhu Yi's Winter Olympics debut is not perfect" garnered more than 33 million views in hours. Some people even baselessly accused her of being a US spy.

Hu, the Chinese commentator, attempted to pin the anger toward Zhu on the US, accusing the US of stoking "populism" in China............


https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/wi...geopolitical-sniping/ar-AATENBh?ocid=msedgntp============================================

A rare moment of international solidarity and celebration was marred by racially charged nationalism in some corners of western media on Tuesday, when Chinese-American skiing star Eileen Gu won gold in the big air competition in Beijing.

Gu, 18, opted to compete for China in these Games back in 2019, citing her mother's Chinese heritage, despite growing up largely in the Bay Area.

With her star rising, the photogenic Gu's decision has come under increasing scrutiny since the start of the Olympics, and the sentiment was renewed with ugly fervor after her triumph on Tuesday.

Speaking with a pool of international reporters after she captured her first career Olympic gold, the Stanford-bound teen was asked about the criticism she faced.

"Here's the thing: I'm not trying to keep anyone happy," said Gu. "I'm an 18-year-old girl out here living my best life. I'm having a great time. It doesn't really matter if other people are happy or not, because I feel as though I'm doing my best. I'm enjoying the entire process, and I'm using my voice to create as much positive change as I can to the voices who will listen to me, in an area that is personal and relevant to myself...........

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/wi...jingoism-in-us-media/ar-AATCA0W?ocid=msedgntp