Freestyle skiing: double Olympic champion Eileen Gu at the centre of a censored affair
Sensitive information relating to the financing of the double Olympic freestyle skiing champion for the 2026 Olympic Games has been partially censored in China.
Information about funding for the 2026 Olympics for two US-born Chinese athletes, including double Olympic champion Eileen Gu, has been partially censored, according to press reports.
Born in California to an American father and a Chinese mother, Gu, a freestyle skiing prodigy, was one of the stars of the 2022 Beijing Olympics, where she won in big air and half-pipe . An advertising icon in China, Eileen Gu chose to represent her mother's country in sport from 2019. Of Chinese parents, skater Beverly Zhu, born in the United States where she grew up, missed her 2022 Olympics.
A document released last week by the city of Beijing indicated that a sum of 48.14 million yuan (6.3 million euros) was allocated this year to their preparation for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics, according to a Chinese media outlet and a specialist website.
The document was still available on the city's website on Wednesday, but the names of the two athletes have been removed. An article in Chinese media outlet Caixin , which mentioned the document, has also been removed. According to the China Digital Times (CDT) website, which specializes in censorship in China, the information has also been removed from other sites.
The €6.3 million was allocated as a "support fund for the training and competitions of talented athletes," according to a screenshot of the government document, released by China Digital Times. It mentions an agreement signed with Eileen Gu and Beverly Zhu, under which the two athletes "will continue to represent Beijing in various competitions" with "the aim of achieving excellent results" in Milan.
China has begun recruiting overseas athletes, many of Chinese descent, in recent years to bolster its national teams, particularly in soccer and ice hockey. While the practice is common in many countries, it is notable in China, which prohibits dual citizenship for its citizens.
Eileen Gu's sports citizenship has attracted the attention of many netizens, particularly in the United States, a country that regularly refers to China as a rival. Asked several times whether she had given up her American passport to obtain Chinese citizenship, the athlete has refrained from answering the question.
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