Eileen Gu embodies the spirit of ‘Together for a Shared Future’

Having finished her parts in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics with two gold medals and one silver, US-born freestyle skiing prodigy Eileen Gu (Gu Ailing) is no doubt the most-talked-about athlete of the ongoing Winter Games because of her overwhelming popularity and her early decision to represent China instead of the United States.

Her allegiance has triggered a keen and continuous argument between people of the two countries. However, in a world of increasing globalization, the all-around talent’s sweeping influence has gone beyond countries and borders, making her a real universal icon for the new generation.

Certainly, the 18-year-old Chinese American biracial woman is a genius with her excellent sports talent, outstanding academic performance, successful celebrity endorsements, as well as witty eloquence and good interpersonal skills.

To many teenagers around the globe, she is the embodiment of charm, intelligence, perseverance and courage, and indeed a perfect example to follow, especially for young women of developing countries. So we could say that Gu belongs to the world because of her worldwide popularity and tremendous influence on the entire new generation as a whole.

Her Chinese lineage and her representation for the Chinese team, of course, are our national pride and glory; however, the US has shared the honor too. Nobody will deny the very fact that the US did play a very essential part in cultivating Gu to become one of the best contemporary skiers in the world. The US’ reputation as a great power in sports is never disputed in this case.

On the other hand, ping-pong, or table tennis, has been dubbed the national game of China because of China’s long-time dominance in the sport. However, China has been sending out abundant but promising elite table-tennis players and coaches abroad for years. Having acquired foreign citizenship, many of these naturalized players compete keenly with their Chinese counterparts in top-level international tournaments. At the same time, the expat coaches have also trained up numerous good local players. Such combined efforts have helped to narrow the gap between Chinese players and their foreign counterparts, making the game more popular, more exciting and more attractive. Such healthy competitions have, in turn, constantly pushed up China’s own standard, keeping its title as a “table tennis kingdom” intact.

Perhaps it is something other countries with strong elite sports foundation should learn from China’s experience — exporting their abundant but promising athletes or coaches of a particular elite sport to enhance the sport’s overall world standard for a win-win situation.

Winter sports are already very popular in the US, with many internationally renowned sports stars, and it also has a big talent pool of female athletes, such as Erin Jackson, Lindsey Jacobellis, Mikaela Shiffrin, Chloe Kim, and so on. With so many female sports stars on the team, any female athlete winning Olympic medals might have only a short-lived impact, including the ripple effect of inspiring young women to follow suit.

However, by choosing to compete for China, Gu has made herself much closer to the massive Chinese public, giving herself, China, the US and the rest of the world another different story. And predictably, the US, where the gifted skier was born, shall benefit much from it.

The development of winter sports in China is still in its infancy, but the market is vastly expanding. Since the country obtained the rights in 2015 to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, the authorities have invested tremendous resources and efforts to promote winter sports. According to the National Bureau of Statistics of China, some 346 million people so far have participated in outdoor and indoor winter-sports-related leisure activities. And it is estimated that China’s snow sport economy could reach 1 trillion yuan ($158 billion) in the near future.

Taking into account China’s great market potential, an iconic figure is essential for the promotion of winter sports. Gu is a symbol of energy, shrewdness, courage, beauty, good upbringing and success, and no doubt, the best choice of celebrity endorsement for the new generation.

The more popularity she gains in China, the higher the profits for American brands. The ultimate commercial benefits the US can get from Gu competing for China will be much more than if she stayed on the US national team. There is a strong reason for this: Her Eurasian background with strong links to both American and Chinese culture has given her the advantage of being able to endorse American and Chinese brands simultaneously. American and other European brands need her to break through, into the huge China market, and so do the prominent Chinese brands for the Western market.

She is now jokingly dubbed as “China’s hottest commodity” and has already become the face of more than 20 brands in China and the US across sports, fashion, jewelry and banking, raking in more than 200 million yuan from brand endorsements. The number of her endorsement deals is likely to rise after her final results in the Beijing Winter Games.

Besides the tremendous commercial value she has created for herself, China, the US and other countries, she has another important dream — inspiring millions of young Chinese women to try the extreme sport of skiing.

“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”, she said when she announced her decision in June 2019 to compete for China.

She is obviously a tough woman with great determination to pursue what is right for herself. “I am not trying to keep everyone happy. I’m an 18-year-old out here living my best life. I know I have a good heart. And I know my reasons for making the decisions I do. They are based on something I feel like is for the greater good.

“I’m not going to waste my time trying to placate people who are uneducated, and don’t experience the gratitude and love I have on a daily basis. I’m using my voice to create as much possible change as I can for the voices who are listening to me in the area that is personal and relevant to myself,” she concluded.

And the gifted skier made a perfect demonstration of the Olympic motto: “Faster, Higher, Stronger — Together” when she won a gold medal in the women’s big air competition on Feb 8. Before starting the last run, Gu was behind France’s Tess Ledeux. At the last moment, she decided to put aside her mom’s advice to play it safe. Instead, she made a 1620 — four and a half full rotations — a spectacular trick she had never pulled off in competition before. The brave move landed her the gold medal and a round of thunderous applause from the spectators.

“Even if I didn’t land it, I felt it would send a message out to the world and hopefully encourage more girls to break their own boundaries,” she added. “That was my biggest goal going into my last run.”

On the other hand, Gu, together with bronze medalist Mathilde Gremaud of Switzerland, showed incredible sportsmanship by consoling Ledeux after the heartbroken French athlete failed to surpass Gu with her last attempt. This beautiful scene of camaraderie melted the hearts of viewers all over the world.

In fact, Gu’s positive, brave, friendly and successful image has inspired not only Chinese women but also women around the world. I hope she can maintain a humble heart in the years to come, and I wish her all the best in her continued mission of inspiring women to strive for a better future of their own.

I would also like to dedicate the official international theme song of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Together for a Shared Future, to the superstar for her remarkable achievements in many areas. The more the world has love, the more beautiful it is … the more I love, the more I look forward to the future … everybody, let’s put our hands together. Together for a shared future!

The author is a member of the Hong Kong Association of Media Veterans and a freelance writer.