Outrage as US Defector Wins Major Sports Award, Smugly Ends Acceptance Speech in Mandarin
A former American athlete who chose to compete for China during the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing was honored with an award Wednesday in the country she swore off.
Eileen Gu was named “Best Breakthrough Athlete” at “The ESPYs,” an awards show put on annually by ESPN that honors athletes and other figures from the sports world for their achievements during the previous year.
“I also want to share this moment with all the incredible pioneering female athletes who’ve come before me, who paved the way for people like me,” Gu said in her acceptance speech at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California.
“Also to the young girls who are going to come after me and who are going to be the change makers and who are going to push it one more step further closer to equality,” she said.
Eileen Gu was inspired by the women who came before her and hopes to do the same for the next generation ? pic.twitter.com/8vqvK6T9ak
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 21, 2022
All of this sounds well and good, except for the fact that earlier this year, Gu decided to compete for China in the Olympics even though she is a U.S. citizen.
According to the Washington Examiner, Gu was born in San Francisco to a Chinese mother. But in 2019, the freestyle skiing prodigy announced she would compete for China instead of the United States in the 2022 Winter Games.
“I am proud of my heritage, and equally proud of my American upbringings,” Gu wrote on Instagram, according to the Examiner. “The opportunity to help inspire millions of young people where my mom was born, during the 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help to promote the sport I love.
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“Through skiing, I hope to unite people, promote common understanding, create communication, and forge friendships between nations.”
Building bridges is one thing, but choosing to represent a country ruled by a Communist Party accused of overseeing the genocide of millions of people is another.
In addition, China does not allow dual citizenship, and the International Olympic Committee says athletes need a passport from the country for which they are competing, the Examiner noted.
In order to become eligible to compete for China, then, Gu likely had to renounce her U.S. citizenship. She has refused to answer questions about this matter.
Gu was successful in the 2022 Winter Olympics, winning two gold medals for China in freestyle skiing.
However, any athletic achievement should be more than overshadowed by her decision to abandon her native country and instead represent a repressive communist regime.
If Gu wanted to remain in China and receive praise for her gold medals there, so be it. But returning to America to receive an award in the country she left? That is nothing short of outrageous.
To add insult to injury, she finished her acceptance speech with a brief message in Mandarin. (The South China Morning Post reported that Gu said, “In the end, I want to thank all the people who support me — let’s add oil together.”)
That represented a stark reminder of her betrayal to everyone watching, and social media users quickly took note.
“She was born and raised in CA, then was given a boat load of money to join China in the Olympics,” one user said. “She should not be a [role] model for anyone.”
She was born and raised in CA, then was given a boat load of money to join China in the Olympics. She should not be a roll model for anyone
— Colin Davis (@ColinDavAZ) July 21, 2022
Others joked her ESPY should have been called the “Benedict Arnold Award” or the “Best communists sell-out to a genocidal regime for a pile of money” award.
Eileen Gu wins ESPY’s first Benedict Arnold Award. https://t.co/jUqTuYmZNx
— Francis Joseph Beckwith (@FrancisBeckwith) July 21, 2022
Best communists sell-out to a genocidal regime for a pile of money goes to…Eileen Gu! https://t.co/Att7NMNLdZ
— Derek Hunter (@derekahunter) July 21, 2022
Ridiculous as this award was, it really shouldn’t be that surprising. While “The ESPYs” were once an entertaining award show for sports fans, they have now become nothing more than a propaganda arm for a woke establishment media outlet to push its leftist ideologies.
This complete embarrassment of an award is simply the latest example of wokeness ruining something Americans once enjoyed.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
