The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina have provided all kinds of storylines.
Currently, the world’s best winter sport athletes are competing in Italy with gold medals on the line. Gifted and talented individuals have been busy flying through the air with snowboards and skis attached to their feet, gently (but strategically) pushing curling stones down a plot of ice, and skiing and shooting in the games’ most unique contest: the Biathlon.
While most of the Winter Olympics have gone on in a business as usual manner, there’s been a handful of stories and scandals that have been eye opening. Sweden accused Team Canada of cheating in curling, a biathlete confessed that he cheated on his girlfriend after winning a bronze medal, and it’s been discovered that one high-profile athlete for Team China – who was born in and lives in the United States – is getting paid millions of dollars by the Chinese government.
Her name is Eileen Gu, and she’s an incredibly talented, Olympic-medal winning freestyle skier. The athlete also boasts quite the following online, where she has over three million followers on Instagram and half a million on TikTok. She’s recently been flooding her feeds with Winter Olympics content:
@eileen_gu Found something in Milan #winterolympics #milanwinterolympics ♬ original sound – no particular order
The 22-year-old is currently enrolled at Stanford University, and was born in America and raised as an American. So when she decided to compete for the Chinese Olympic team in 2019 (her mother’s native country), and has continued to compete for China ever since, she’s drawn some criticism. Many wondered why she would choose to do so, and during these games – where she’s already taken home two silver medals – the “why” has become apparent.
Money.
It’s believed that Eileen Gu is the highest paid athlete currently competing in the 2026 Winter Olympics. The Athletic reports that she brings in just over $23 million a year, and much of that is from sponsors like Porsche, Red Bull Estee Lauder, Cadillac, and TCL electronics. Of that $23 million annual income… only $100,000 is earned through skiing.
The Olympic skier also regularly receives money from the Beijing Municipal Sports Bureau, which reportedly paid Gu and another American-born figure skater (Zhu Yi) competing for Team China a collective $6.6 million in 2025. Over the past three years, the pair has been paid over $14 million. One of the recent payments that was sent to the two athletes was described as “striving for excellent results in qualifying for the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics,” according to a leaked document.
Gu insists that her decision to compete for China over the U.S. boils down to culture and inspiring future generations of athletes, and not anything else. The spreadsheets suggest that guaranteed money – specifically from the Chinese government – could play a significant role in her decision to bear the Chinese flag over the Stars and Stripes.
And while she also recently said she felt like she was “carrying the weight of two countries” on her shoulders, I think it might be giant, giant bags of money that’s weighing her down.
Now, every time she takes the slopes, she’s bombarded with questions about both America and China, but ultimately has become quite the media darling at the Olympics. She recently graced the cover of TIME Magazine, meanwhile every athlete representing America is encouraged to take their 30 seconds on the mic to trash the red, white and blue. Of course, the media can’t ask Gu about China the same way they talk about America, and we all know why… it would put her in danger. And when they try and broach the subject, Gu ducks it… so if nothing else, it illustrates the hypocrisy of both Gu and the media.
Gu has found herself in the middle of controversy and backlash from the American public, perhaps deservedly so. But at the end of the day, she can call herself a trailblazer, a role model, or whatever she wants, but it’s clear who she skis for…. team money.
