Eileen Gu grand marshals Chinese New Year parade

American-born Olympic skier Eileen Gu, who chose to represent Team China at the Winter Games, was honored at Chinese New Year celebrations in San Francisco on Saturday.

Gu was the grand marshal of the parade and expressed what the honor meant to him in an interview before the festivities.

“Being a Grand Marshal and being a part of this is a very special thing,” he said he told KGO-TV.

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Gu recalled attending the parade with her family when she was little and remembering when her mother and grandmother would cook in the kitchen.

The three-time gold medalist told the station he was focused on making a bigger impact around the world.

“My biggest goal has always been to make the biggest positive impact I can on the global stage,” he said. “At this moment in time, this takes the form of sports, fashion and education.”

Gu faced criticism during the Olympics and criticism for passing up the chance to compete for Team USA and represent the country of his birth.

He thought about the decision he had made last week.

“I had my first conversation about women in sports and title IX when I was 11. I talked about being the only girl on my ski team and being best friends with my teammates on the weekends thanks to the shared sports language, even though I went to an all-girls school Monday through Friday,” Gu wrote on Instagram.

Eileen Gu waves to the crowd during the Chinese New Year Parade in San Francisco on Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Gu continued by expressing his gratitude for a season competing for the USA

“I announced my decision to compete for China when I was 15. I spent a season on the U.S. team at the time and was lucky enough to meet my heroes in person. I am forever grateful for that season and continue to maintain a close relationship with the team. I had spent every summer in China since I was 8 years old, running summer camps on trampoline and dry land for kids and adults ranging from 7 to 47, so I knew the industry was small for everyone,” he added.

“For Team China, skiing meant the opportunity to cheer others on through universal sports culture and introduce freeskiing to hundreds of millions of people who had never heard of it before, especially as the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics approached.”

Gu’s statement ended by acknowledging that some people “didn’t understand” his decision to compete for China against the United States, and insisted he was maximizing the impact of that choice.

“Looking back now at 22, I can tell 12-year-old Eileen that there were terrain parks full of little girls who would never doubt their place in the sport. And to 15-year-old me, I can tell that there are millions of girls who have since taken up skiing in China and around the world,” Gu wrote.

Gold medalist Hasta Eileen Gu of the People’s Republic of China celebrates the medal ceremony in the women’s halfpipe skiing at the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Livigno Snow Park on February 22, 2026. (Nathan Ray Seebeck/Imagn Images)

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“Given my interests and passions, not many people will understand or believe that I have decided at this age to make the biggest positive impact I can on the world stage. Three golds and six medals later, I can safely say that what was once a dream is now a reality.”

Fox News’ Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.

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