Eileen Gu may compete for China, but the only entity she truly represents is Eileen Gu, Inc.

LIVIGNO, Italy – Eileen Gu will likely win another medal in the women’s freeski big air final on Monday. And he’ll probably show up to the press conference as he always does, dodging any questions about the true nature of his citizenship, the political ramifications of his choice as a 15-year-old to represent China (rather than his native United States) at the Olympics, and the various human rights atrocities committed by the Chinese Communist Party.

And then, 5,000 miles away in the United States, the outrage will begin—both for Gu’s disloyalty to the country of his birth and for those who are here to document his accomplishments because we don’t waste our time chasing a dozen dead ends about the Uyghurs, Taiwan, and Jimmy Lai’s social media thirst to create a viral catch-all moment that will go after Gu and expose him for the fraud some consider him to be.

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Eileen Gu, now 22 and an international relations major at Stanford, is many things. He’s an opportunist. He is outwardly ambitious in a way that makes you wonder how deep his inner cynicism runs. It presents his complex life story through the lens of a saccharine-soaked world that becomes evasive the moment something non-existent and controversial is brought into its orbit. He can talk a lot without saying too much.

He is all of these and probably much more.

But he’s not stupid, and he’s never so undisciplined that he gets on the wrong side of a government that makes him very, very rich.

So to the extent that he dedicates his life to being an opportunist, perhaps it doesn’t matter which country he represents when he skis because his ability to game the system from every angle is as American as apple pie.

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The answers many of you want? I’m sorry but they won’t come; They certainly won’t come after jumping off a 15-story ramp in a press conference room in the Italian Alps. They’ll probably never come.

Did he make a deal with the CCP to keep his American passport, in violation of Chinese laws that do not allow dual citizenship?

Did the $6.6 million he and another American-born athlete earned from the Beijing Municipal Sports Bureau last year (an amount mistakenly disclosed in a financial report before being deleted from the Internet, according to the Wall Street Journal) come with unwelcome terms?

Does she really believe that inspiring Chinese women to take part in winter sports will make women’s lives better under a regime that falls shamefully behind most of the modern world in terms of political representation, economic opportunities and the rights of domestic violence victims?

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He’s been asked about all of this in many different venues over the years. And as good as he is on the slopes, he’s even better at Never Go There.

As he told Time Magazine’s Sean Gregory in an article detailed ahead of the Milan Cortina Games, when asked how he would respond to a question about Donald Trump imposing tariffs on China: “I would just say: ‘I didn’t know I was promoted to secretary of commerce.’ “It is irresponsible to ask me to be the spokesman for any agenda.”

So when it comes to Eileen Gu, we all have to make a choice.

Do we want to drive ourselves to the brink of insanity, foaming at the mouth about carrying the flag of an oppressive regime, or do we accept him for what he is: a really good skier who has no real interest in anything that really matters in China or the United States, and who has found a way to use his talent, looks, and perfect Mandarin to achieve far greater success than any other athlete at the Winter Olympics.

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In a minor defense to Gu, it’s worth remembering that he chose to compete for China when he was 15 years old.

Born to a Chinese mother who raised her as a single parent, what do you think she knew at age 15? At that age, I doubt she expected it to be anything more than a business decision – and while it was undeniably complicated and perhaps morally problematic, it proved to be the right decision for her bank account and the list of sponsors who wanted to be involved in the Eileen Gu business.

Did he have reason to think this would turn out? This? Did we? People constantly change their nationality in sports in both directions. He did so before the brutal crackdown in Hong Kong, before most people understood the scope of atrocities committed against ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, and before Covid-19. Maybe this doesn’t matter to you, but the context of the choice made then is not the context of the choice now.

And since becoming an international superstar and four-time Olympic medalist (perhaps two more will come to Livigno), Gu doesn’t spend his social capital extolling the virtues of the CCP’s censorship regime and economic system. He talks about bridging differences and inspiring young people with his athletic achievements. He clearly doesn’t want to be part of the culture war that others are trying to drag him into.

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It may be very cynical, but don’t many fans want athletes to stick with the sport?

Here’s the truth: Gu may be wearing the Five-Star Red Flag on her ski outfit, but the only entity she actually represents is Eileen Gu, Inc. Presenting it as anything more than that on social media to stoke America’s political anger represents something almost as abhorrent.