American freestyle skier Eileen Gu is opening up about some of the difficult moments she’s had to deal with since choosing to compete for China in the Olympics in 2019.
Gu, 22, told The Athletic last week that choosing to play for China, where her mother was born, instead of the U.S., where she was born and raised, has caused anger and even violence from some.
The star athlete claims she was “physically assaulted on the street” while on campus at Sanford University, and had to call police over the incident. She enrolled in the prestigious school in the fall of 2022.
“I’ve had death threats,” she added. “I’ve had my dorm robbed. I’ve gone through some things as a 22-year-old that I really think no one should ever have to endure, ever.”
Eileen Gu after competing in the freeski big air on Feb. 14.Patrick Smith/Getty
A spokesperson for Stanford University and for the Stanford University Police Department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment.
Gu was just 15 years old when she decided to compete for China, and has maintained that she made the choice because she wanted young Chinese girls to have someone to idolize in the world of skiing.
“In the U.S. growing up, I had so many idols to look up to,” she told The Athletic. “But in China, I feel like there are a lot fewer of those. I’d have a much greater impact in China than in the U.S., and that’s ultimately why I made my decision.”
Gu — who has won two silver medals at the 2026 Winter Olympics— is a native of the Bay Area, and has said that she’d dreamt of attending Stanford since she was 6 years old.
Though she took the current school year off in order to prepare for the 2026 Winter Olympics, Gu is active as a student; she is majoring in international relations and joined a sorority.
She is set to return to Stanford as a junior after the Olympics, according to Time.
In a 2019 Instagram post, Gu went more in-depth on her decision to compete for China, calling it an “incredibly tough” choice.
“I am proud of my heritage, and equally proud of my American upbringings,” she wrote. “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. Through skiing, I hope to unite people, promote common understanding, create communication, and forge friendships between nations. If I can help to inspire one young girl to break a boundary, my wishes will have come true. 
.”
Gu has gone on to become the most accomplished women’s freeskier of all time, and one of the highest-paid female athletes in the world, as she’s earned more than $23 million in endorsements, according to Forbes.
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