There wasn't a single athlete at the 2026 Winter Olympics that received more scrutiny than 22-year-old freestyle skier Eileen Gu.
Back in 2019, Gu announced that she'd represent China at the Winter Olympics. That was considered a very controversial decision since she was born and raised in San Francisco. However, she said she wanted to honor her mother's country.
“I have decided to compete for China in the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics,” Gu said. “This was an incredibly tough decision for me to make. I am extremely thankful for U.S. Ski & Snowboard and the Chinese Ski Association for having the vision and belief in me to make my dreams come true. I am proud of my heritage, and equally proud of my American upbringings. 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.”
Seven years later, Gu is still getting crushed for "betraying" the United States. She even received criticism from Vice President JD Vance.
“I certainly think that somebody who grew up in the United States of America, who benefited from our education system, from the freedoms and liberties that make this country a great place, I would hope that they want to compete with the United States of America,” Vance said. “So, I’m going to root for American athletes and I think part of that is people who identify themselves as Americans. That’s who I’m rooting for this Olympics.”
© Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images.
During this Tuesday's episode of "Boomer & Gio" on WFAN, former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason called Gu an "insufferable" individual.
"She’s a very attractive woman and she’s extremely bright, she went to Stanford. But if you listen to her post participation interviews, she’s insufferable," Esiason said. "It’s hard to listen to. But then again, it’s an individual sport and an individual person talking about herself as opposed to talking about her teammates and the support she receives.”
As you'd imagine, Esiason received plenty of backlash for these comments about Gu.
"If anyone would know about being insufferable, it's Boomer," Patrick Allen of FanSided said.
"Beyond ridiculous... and on brand for a Boomer," one person commented.
"Man who spews his opinions into a microphone for several hours every day finds a well-educated woman’s insightful press conference answer to be 'insufferable.' Ironic," another person wrote on X.
The 2026 Olympics were a huge success for Gu.
Despite all the outrage surrounding Gu, she shined bright at this year's Olympics. Not only did she claim silver medals in the Big Air an slopestyle events, she won gold in the halfpipe for the second consecutive Winter Games.
“I’m the most decorated female freeskier in history, I think that’s answer in and of itself,” she told a reporter who questioned her silver medals. “How do I say this? Winning a medal at the Olympics is a life-changing experience for every athlete. Doing it five times is exponentially harder because every medal is equally hard for me, but everybody else’s expectations rise, right? And so the ‘two medals lost’ situation to be quite frank with you I think is kind of a ridiculous perspective to take. I’m showcasing my best skiing, I’m doing things that quite literally have never been done before, and so I think that is more than good enough. But thank you.”
Suffice to say, Gu's critics haven't stopped her from achieving greatness.