{"id":9540,"date":"2022-02-22T08:30:45","date_gmt":"2022-02-22T08:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/?p=9540"},"modified":"2025-04-23T09:44:25","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T09:44:25","slug":"why-eileen-gu-was-the-real-winner-of-beijing-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/why-eileen-gu-was-the-real-winner-of-beijing-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Eileen Gu was the real winner of Beijing 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics has come to an end, one name has attracted the most attention both on and off the slopes: Eileen Gu. With so much attention on the young freestyle skier, Nik Alderson<\/strong> asks, who is Eileen Gu and why does it matter?<\/h2>\n

With so many questions and potential controversies swirling around the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics \u2014 from geopolitical tensions to whether China could maintain its \u2018dynamic zero\u2019 Covid-19 policy with so many athletes coming in from abroad \u2014 it was hard to predict beforehand which stories would capture headlines.<\/p>\n

Looking back over the biggest stories now that the Games are over, beyond some incredible feats of sporting prowess, a number of personal and cultural stories also grabbed the world\u2019s attention. People went crazy for Olympic mascot<\/a> Bing Dwen Dwen, a giant panda wearing a suit of ice, causing two to three-hour-long queues to form outside stores selling Olympic merchandise in central Beijing \u2013 surprising given that it attracted little fanfare when it initially launched in 2018. Team GB<\/a> became the unlikely stars of the opening ceremony when Weibo and WeChat users responded positively to their Ben Sherman-designed outfits.<\/p>\n

However, one name has stood out above all others: Eileen Gu.<\/p>\n

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The 18-year-old is the success story of China\u2019s \u201cnaturalisation project.<\/span>\u201d A pet project of President Xi Jinping, the plan to recruit foreign athletes of Chinese heritage to represent the country in certain events was launched after Beijing won its bid to host the winter games to address the fact that it had only won a small number of medals at previous Winter Olympics \u2014 13 as of 2018, to be exact<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Gu is one such athlete, and she has more than met China\u2019s expectations, winning two gold medals in the freestyle skiing big air and halfpipe events, and a silver for slopestyle. This not only makes her the youngest ever freestyle skiing Olympic gold medalist, but also the first freestyle skier to win three medals at the same event. Clearly, she is a force to be reckoned with, and both commercial brands and other organisations are taking note.<\/p>\n

In 2019, Eileen announced on social media that she had made the choice to represent China in the 2022 Winter Olympics. With this decision came a stream of nationalistic praise from Chinese citizens and sponsorships from state-owned firms including Bank of China and China Mobile. As Ricardo Fort, who managed Olympic sponsorships for Coca-Cola and Visa during past Games has said,<\/span> \u201cIf I had to choose between Chinese sponsors and American sponsors, the pool of money for endorsements in China is more interesting for any athlete.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n