"when an American chooses to play for the Chinese team they are acting as the mouthpiece for an agenda. Dictators have used sports to burnish their reputations going all the way back to the infamous 1936 Olympics in Berlin and beyond. To be an American on Team CCP is to willingly support that effort. Eileen Gu lends a human face to an ugly system."
Excellent piece. Gu is the perfect case study of what happens when incentive structures reward moral vacancy. She didn’t choose China because of ideology or identity, she chose $23 million over integrity. That calculation, “marginal value of moral compromise,” is exactly the behavioral mechanism driving institutional collapse across America right now.
What disappoints me most is how pervasive this is. I hear people who claim to be anti-authoritarian, anti-Trump, disgusted by the regime, then casually say “well if you were offered enough money, would you do XYZ?”
That question itself is obscene.
There’s no amount of money that buys my integrity, and I see that same refusal in many writers here, commenters here, close friends I know.
But the broader American culture is corroded by incentive structures that make everything transactional.
Money isn’t just valued, it’s worshipped as the only thing that matters.
Gu chose tens of millions whitewashing genocide. That’s not success, that’s systematic erosion of the values that make any society worth living in. When profit consistently trumps principle, you don’t get a functioning democracy, you get a marketplace where everything, including human rights and institutional legitimacy, is for sale to the highest bidder.
What the hell is the point if this is the path people are willing to go down?
When we raise kids to think they can be a woman when they are a man, and then surprised at a half biologically Chinese person wrap that flag around themselves; we need to do a self examination. We created the environment
Here us the rub. It is not our system against their system. If you visit China you will get along fine with the locals, just as Chinese person visiting The USA will get along with locals. And, know that the athletes from most countries are support each other. They know they are all top of their game. It is the arm chair citizens watching on TV or the political crowd that want to sow division. Its fake and not healthy.
You appear intent on glossing over the reality that the CCP is a brutal autocratic regime, which has murdered millions of its own citizens, who live without any political freedom or rights.
If you consider such observations as nothing more than ‘sowing division’, you share a viewpoint with President Xi.
Not sure why that’s a stance you would want to assert is somehow morally superior. Maybe spend some time educating yourself about Chinese dissidents and their families, who live in perpetual fear of the Chinese security forces, no matter where in the world they reside.
Did Chinese try to assassinate POTUS or was it our own people? Most Americans dont know much about their own problems yet seem to be so well informed about the other guys. Strange eh?
I saw the NBC piece about her where she was dashing between modeling shoots, class, and practice, thinking: why? Why would they glamorize her? They wasted airtime on her, when they could have focused on an American or one of our European friends racing against our team, like maybe a Ukrainian.
In stark contrast to Alysa Liu, Eileen Gu is a gold digging traitor. She was also born and raised in America, but chose to represent China because the CCP paid her millions. No MSM court eunuchs dared to ask her what she thinks of Xi Jinping’s human rights record. Yet they badgered every American athlete to denounce Trump and ICE. She should be deported. As the ultimate globalist shill, she is more loyal to money and her luxury brand sponsors than any nation - Louis Vuitton, Tiffany, Porsche. Even Chinese citizens resent the special treatment she is afforded.
3 Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and look, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye!
Hi there, I agree with the vast majority of this--it is a great argument. Personally, I view Gu as an extremely talented skier, a beautiful model/spokesperson, an intellectually brilliant person, a very, very savvy businessperson...and a typical "for-profit Olympian," of whom there have been many. She is both a good winner and good loser, as well as a gal who doesn't miss a photo op or promo.
Her China choice turns my stomach. I once sent a letter to Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison to protest China's recent Most Favored Nation status in the midst of another wave of persecution they were instigating. Her response to me? In essence, "it's strategic." Wow, that was moral.
However, I have a hard time differentiating Gu from so many others. You did well to bring up Americans playing for the UK, as well. Or, for that matter, Puerto Rico, Lithuania, Ireland, Russia (!), and Greece, to name a few. What about a hockey team that drinks beer with Kash Patel and laughs at their fellow (champion) USA women's hockey athletes being derided by Fake President Trump? Belorussians playing for AIN? Russians playing for Kazakhstan or Georgia (a country they have brutalized)?
Here's my point--when did we start expecting athletes to be "moral"? For that matter, how do people define "moral" and "traitor." Are athletes mandated to be moral? Olympians and athletes of all stripes chase money/funding as well as opportunity, for either necessity or advantage. But are we viewing morality strictly through specific patriotic American lenses? Was Jordan moral? How about Bonds, Clemens, McGuire, Conseco...and Sosa? Tom Brady or Joe Namath? FIFA? Ted Williams? The NFL?
Like I said, I agree with your premise. I support oppressed peoples, in both prayer and funding, whether in Ukraine, China, Sudan, Gaza, or Minnesota. We love watching the Olympics and pulling for good-hearted and inspiring athletes, worldwide. Not that they asked me, but I would have never represented China, period. Or Saudi Arabia, for that matter. Or Turkey. Or Qatar. Or Israel. Or El Salvador. However, with everything we are doing to the world and our fellow citizens and other humans, I don't think in good conscience I could have played for Uncle Donnie's USA, either. It's so layered. I grieve the pain of it all. But who is in and who is out, and on whose list?
There is nothing I can disagree with in Greg Bee’s comment or Gary Kasparov’s article. That stated, there is a continuum at one end of which are athletes and artists who “sell out,” thus giving their cred to an authoritarian regime . At the other end are those who either capitulate to or agree to appear at the behest of an authoritarian - such as the US Olympic hockey team or the World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers. The latter also lend their cred to the authoritarian. Probably most would agree that those in the former group (call it the left end of the continuum) are the more craven. As for those on the right end of the continuum, some of would argue that those in this group do not belong on the continuum at all, especially if there is disagreement about who is an authoritarian. Regardless, they are all taking a moral or mercenary stand and are fair game for criticism. The one thing I hope we all can agree on is that we all have a right to make and express our own opinions on the matter. The authoritarians would use the criminal justice system or the bully pulpit to deny us this right.
Ali, Abdul Jabbar and several athletes have been moral. Jordan, although he was not heralded as such, when he played, has been spending millions on health centers in NC, his home state, among other things. LeBron started a school in Akron -his home town - and will be paying for college educations of graduates provided they make certain grades. You should not paint all athletes with 1 brush.
Absolutely, and that certainly is not my intention. I would call Ali's protest of our conflict in Vietnam heroic, while others called him a traitor (and still do). Jordan did the good things you said, while he also had a massive gambling addiction and other business dealings that I would say were not moral. But that's my point--athletes are a mixed bag and moral standards really depend on who is framing it. Case in point: to me, Gu's Chinese representation feels different versus the way I'd feel if she was playing for Russia. And JD Vance called her a traitor, while I would call JD Vance a traitor. So let me not be a hypocrite. It's a fascinating conversation.
Americans playing for Puerto Rico? Puerto Ricans are "Americans" as in from the Americas, and citizens of the United States of America. The IOC recognizes Puerto Rico separately.
I don't have anything of much interest to say I fear, but I offer one insight, having been a young adult myself once upon a time, youthfulness does cloud one's judgement.
When you add America's penchant for individualism, making a buck, and quest for fame, into the mix, her trajectory seems very American grindset does it not?
A nation of nihilistic self aggrandisement, cant really complain when someone maximises their nihilistic self aggrandiisement potential?
While I am disappointed with Gu taking her position, let's not forget to call out the sponsors who write the checks that add up to $23 million. We're talking to you Tiffany, Red Bull, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Fendi, and Porsche to name just a few. I'm guessing there wasn't a lot of hesitation when there's a profitable market of 1.6 Billion consumers to serve. Screw the Uyghurs, we have handbags and energy drinks to sell.
As an Asian American woman who got a 1580 SAT score, graduated from Stanford, won multiple medals in two Olympics, and received lucrative modeling contracts it’s easy to understand why many Americans don’t like Eileen Gu. There’s no way of knowing how much financial considerations influenced her decision relative to her mother’s Chinese heritage. There is no question that she would get lucrative endorsement deals as an American Olympian.
I agree totally that she’s doing this for the money and the fame that goes with it. After the Olympics are over she goes back to being a nobody athlete in the US but something much bigger in China. She has to live with herself and her choices. And don’t tell me an over achieving Stanford student doesn’t know about how China has treated the Uyghurs. I call BS on that
And the main reason for that is attacks on American education and the concept of Western Civilization, in pursuit of ideas strenuously promoted in this country, having to do with pluralism and making things comfortable for the group promoting the ideas. We see the results of that today.
Noone should read this essay as though it is limpid and single layered.
I think it’s worth considering that calling Eileen Gu “values-free” may be oversimplifying things. She clearly makes strategic choices, but that doesn’t mean she lacks values. For example, representing China may reflect a genuine connection to her cultural heritage and her family, not just pursuit of profit. As a second-generation Asian American, she may also feel that fully representing the U.S. comes with the reality that many people in her country of birth might never see her as “truly American” because of her race. Choosing China could be a way to honor a part of her identity while also pursuing her athletic goals. It’s also important to remember that elite athletes operate within systems — sponsors, national teams, and global media — that shape what’s possible for them publicly. Silence on controversial issues doesn’t necessarily mean lack of conscience; it may reflect a realistic assessment of risk and consequence. Reducing her to a caricature of greed or narcissism misses the complexity of her situation. Her choices are not purely transactional, and they may be deeply personal and identity-driven.
Never have I read something so lacking in self awareness - the US has been sports washing its neo colonialist, hegemonic aggression for over a hundred years. When did the US last drag several hundred million citizens OUT of poverty?
Was 15 year old Gu's decision based on representing the Communist party? Or on representing hundreds of millions of perfectly honorable Chinese citizens and their culture? Only Gu knows!
I can't help thinking Nietzschean: that the supposed logic of the diatribes here, on Fox News, and elsewhere is colored by jealousy: of her athleticism, her youthful beauty, and her fame, among other things. And clicks... don't forget clicks.
I am not in the least bit a fan of the Chinese Communist Party, but almost any link that can be built between the American and Chinese cultures is intrinsically valuable for promoting peace, trust, and cooperation between peoples. There is more to life than politics, which is a lesson the Olympics are supposed to teach, except that apparently a giant chunk of people in the US are unwilling to hear that lesson.
She COULD become exactly what she says-- a representative of both cultures-- but certain Americans like everyone in this chat have rejected her. She has the *opportunity* to do good with her dual, bridging nature, except that path is being cut off for her by a mob of people tearing their hair out. Maybe she could use her millions for good sometime in the future, except for the people desperately trying to convince her that the country of her birth is a lost cause.
I'm going to be honest, I didn't know anything about Gu until last week. But the last week has convinced me I'm more proud to call her a fellow American than the catty, spiteful second-guessers railing against her.
Brava Eileen. Looking forward to 3 more gold medals wherever in 2030.
"when an American chooses to play for the Chinese team they are acting as the mouthpiece for an agenda. Dictators have used sports to burnish their reputations going all the way back to the infamous 1936 Olympics in Berlin and beyond. To be an American on Team CCP is to willingly support that effort. Eileen Gu lends a human face to an ugly system."
Simple truth.
Excellent piece. Gu is the perfect case study of what happens when incentive structures reward moral vacancy. She didn’t choose China because of ideology or identity, she chose $23 million over integrity. That calculation, “marginal value of moral compromise,” is exactly the behavioral mechanism driving institutional collapse across America right now.
What disappoints me most is how pervasive this is. I hear people who claim to be anti-authoritarian, anti-Trump, disgusted by the regime, then casually say “well if you were offered enough money, would you do XYZ?”
That question itself is obscene.
There’s no amount of money that buys my integrity, and I see that same refusal in many writers here, commenters here, close friends I know.
But the broader American culture is corroded by incentive structures that make everything transactional.
Money isn’t just valued, it’s worshipped as the only thing that matters.
Gu chose tens of millions whitewashing genocide. That’s not success, that’s systematic erosion of the values that make any society worth living in. When profit consistently trumps principle, you don’t get a functioning democracy, you get a marketplace where everything, including human rights and institutional legitimacy, is for sale to the highest bidder.
What the hell is the point if this is the path people are willing to go down?
—Johan
I don't think she should have been allowed to train with America
https://substack.com/profile/385027225-n-martin/note/c-219255499?r=9jstc&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
When we raise kids to think they can be a woman when they are a man, and then surprised at a half biologically Chinese person wrap that flag around themselves; we need to do a self examination. We created the environment
It’s not a matter of being surprised, it’s about assessing the morality of the choices adults make.
Here us the rub. It is not our system against their system. If you visit China you will get along fine with the locals, just as Chinese person visiting The USA will get along with locals. And, know that the athletes from most countries are support each other. They know they are all top of their game. It is the arm chair citizens watching on TV or the political crowd that want to sow division. Its fake and not healthy.
You appear intent on glossing over the reality that the CCP is a brutal autocratic regime, which has murdered millions of its own citizens, who live without any political freedom or rights.
If you consider such observations as nothing more than ‘sowing division’, you share a viewpoint with President Xi.
Not sure why that’s a stance you would want to assert is somehow morally superior. Maybe spend some time educating yourself about Chinese dissidents and their families, who live in perpetual fear of the Chinese security forces, no matter where in the world they reside.
Or don’t. You seem curiously indifferent.
Did Chinese try to assassinate POTUS or was it our own people? Most Americans dont know much about their own problems yet seem to be so well informed about the other guys. Strange eh?
I saw the NBC piece about her where she was dashing between modeling shoots, class, and practice, thinking: why? Why would they glamorize her? They wasted airtime on her, when they could have focused on an American or one of our European friends racing against our team, like maybe a Ukrainian.
People love to hate, sadly. Its a popular past time
In stark contrast to Alysa Liu, Eileen Gu is a gold digging traitor. She was also born and raised in America, but chose to represent China because the CCP paid her millions. No MSM court eunuchs dared to ask her what she thinks of Xi Jinping’s human rights record. Yet they badgered every American athlete to denounce Trump and ICE. She should be deported. As the ultimate globalist shill, she is more loyal to money and her luxury brand sponsors than any nation - Louis Vuitton, Tiffany, Porsche. Even Chinese citizens resent the special treatment she is afforded.
https://yuribezmenov.substack.com/p/2026-milan-olympics-inspiration
I think traitor is going a bit far. But only a bit.
https://substack.com/profile/385027225-n-martin/note/c-219255499?r=9jstc&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
"Eileen Gu is the face of a nihilistic, values-free attitude that puts narcissistic pursuit of profit above everything else."
Sounds like she stands pretty much in line with American values
Exactly.
Matthew 7:3-5
3 Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and look, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye!
https://substack.com/profile/385027225-n-martin/note/c-219255499?r=9jstc&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
Hi there, I agree with the vast majority of this--it is a great argument. Personally, I view Gu as an extremely talented skier, a beautiful model/spokesperson, an intellectually brilliant person, a very, very savvy businessperson...and a typical "for-profit Olympian," of whom there have been many. She is both a good winner and good loser, as well as a gal who doesn't miss a photo op or promo.
Her China choice turns my stomach. I once sent a letter to Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison to protest China's recent Most Favored Nation status in the midst of another wave of persecution they were instigating. Her response to me? In essence, "it's strategic." Wow, that was moral.
However, I have a hard time differentiating Gu from so many others. You did well to bring up Americans playing for the UK, as well. Or, for that matter, Puerto Rico, Lithuania, Ireland, Russia (!), and Greece, to name a few. What about a hockey team that drinks beer with Kash Patel and laughs at their fellow (champion) USA women's hockey athletes being derided by Fake President Trump? Belorussians playing for AIN? Russians playing for Kazakhstan or Georgia (a country they have brutalized)?
Here's my point--when did we start expecting athletes to be "moral"? For that matter, how do people define "moral" and "traitor." Are athletes mandated to be moral? Olympians and athletes of all stripes chase money/funding as well as opportunity, for either necessity or advantage. But are we viewing morality strictly through specific patriotic American lenses? Was Jordan moral? How about Bonds, Clemens, McGuire, Conseco...and Sosa? Tom Brady or Joe Namath? FIFA? Ted Williams? The NFL?
Like I said, I agree with your premise. I support oppressed peoples, in both prayer and funding, whether in Ukraine, China, Sudan, Gaza, or Minnesota. We love watching the Olympics and pulling for good-hearted and inspiring athletes, worldwide. Not that they asked me, but I would have never represented China, period. Or Saudi Arabia, for that matter. Or Turkey. Or Qatar. Or Israel. Or El Salvador. However, with everything we are doing to the world and our fellow citizens and other humans, I don't think in good conscience I could have played for Uncle Donnie's USA, either. It's so layered. I grieve the pain of it all. But who is in and who is out, and on whose list?
Maybe the AIN isn't looking so bad, after all.
There is nothing I can disagree with in Greg Bee’s comment or Gary Kasparov’s article. That stated, there is a continuum at one end of which are athletes and artists who “sell out,” thus giving their cred to an authoritarian regime . At the other end are those who either capitulate to or agree to appear at the behest of an authoritarian - such as the US Olympic hockey team or the World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers. The latter also lend their cred to the authoritarian. Probably most would agree that those in the former group (call it the left end of the continuum) are the more craven. As for those on the right end of the continuum, some of would argue that those in this group do not belong on the continuum at all, especially if there is disagreement about who is an authoritarian. Regardless, they are all taking a moral or mercenary stand and are fair game for criticism. The one thing I hope we all can agree on is that we all have a right to make and express our own opinions on the matter. The authoritarians would use the criminal justice system or the bully pulpit to deny us this right.
Ali, Abdul Jabbar and several athletes have been moral. Jordan, although he was not heralded as such, when he played, has been spending millions on health centers in NC, his home state, among other things. LeBron started a school in Akron -his home town - and will be paying for college educations of graduates provided they make certain grades. You should not paint all athletes with 1 brush.
Absolutely, and that certainly is not my intention. I would call Ali's protest of our conflict in Vietnam heroic, while others called him a traitor (and still do). Jordan did the good things you said, while he also had a massive gambling addiction and other business dealings that I would say were not moral. But that's my point--athletes are a mixed bag and moral standards really depend on who is framing it. Case in point: to me, Gu's Chinese representation feels different versus the way I'd feel if she was playing for Russia. And JD Vance called her a traitor, while I would call JD Vance a traitor. So let me not be a hypocrite. It's a fascinating conversation.
Yes, I'm aware of that. Mainlander-born Americans competing under the PR flag.
Yes, I'm aware of that. Mainlander-born Americans pl competing under the PR flag.
Americans playing for Puerto Rico? Puerto Ricans are "Americans" as in from the Americas, and citizens of the United States of America. The IOC recognizes Puerto Rico separately.
I don't have anything of much interest to say I fear, but I offer one insight, having been a young adult myself once upon a time, youthfulness does cloud one's judgement.
When you add America's penchant for individualism, making a buck, and quest for fame, into the mix, her trajectory seems very American grindset does it not?
A nation of nihilistic self aggrandisement, cant really complain when someone maximises their nihilistic self aggrandiisement potential?
While I am disappointed with Gu taking her position, let's not forget to call out the sponsors who write the checks that add up to $23 million. We're talking to you Tiffany, Red Bull, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Fendi, and Porsche to name just a few. I'm guessing there wasn't a lot of hesitation when there's a profitable market of 1.6 Billion consumers to serve. Screw the Uyghurs, we have handbags and energy drinks to sell.
As an Asian American woman who got a 1580 SAT score, graduated from Stanford, won multiple medals in two Olympics, and received lucrative modeling contracts it’s easy to understand why many Americans don’t like Eileen Gu. There’s no way of knowing how much financial considerations influenced her decision relative to her mother’s Chinese heritage. There is no question that she would get lucrative endorsement deals as an American Olympian.
Thank you for being the voice of sanity, Larry.
I agree totally that she’s doing this for the money and the fame that goes with it. After the Olympics are over she goes back to being a nobody athlete in the US but something much bigger in China. She has to live with herself and her choices. And don’t tell me an over achieving Stanford student doesn’t know about how China has treated the Uyghurs. I call BS on that
I'm willing to bet Gu wasn't taught civics or ethics in US schools.
And the main reason for that is attacks on American education and the concept of Western Civilization, in pursuit of ideas strenuously promoted in this country, having to do with pluralism and making things comfortable for the group promoting the ideas. We see the results of that today.
Noone should read this essay as though it is limpid and single layered.
Yes! Thank you for articulating what I feel, but could not rationally express, about her.
First, Trump must be investigated, and he must be impeached.
Second, we have to stop MAGA authoritarianism for good.
If we keep electing men like Trump, they will keep undermining that foundation, until it finally collapses
I think it’s worth considering that calling Eileen Gu “values-free” may be oversimplifying things. She clearly makes strategic choices, but that doesn’t mean she lacks values. For example, representing China may reflect a genuine connection to her cultural heritage and her family, not just pursuit of profit. As a second-generation Asian American, she may also feel that fully representing the U.S. comes with the reality that many people in her country of birth might never see her as “truly American” because of her race. Choosing China could be a way to honor a part of her identity while also pursuing her athletic goals. It’s also important to remember that elite athletes operate within systems — sponsors, national teams, and global media — that shape what’s possible for them publicly. Silence on controversial issues doesn’t necessarily mean lack of conscience; it may reflect a realistic assessment of risk and consequence. Reducing her to a caricature of greed or narcissism misses the complexity of her situation. Her choices are not purely transactional, and they may be deeply personal and identity-driven.
Never have I read something so lacking in self awareness - the US has been sports washing its neo colonialist, hegemonic aggression for over a hundred years. When did the US last drag several hundred million citizens OUT of poverty?
Criticising someone for choosing financial gain over human rights feels extremely hollow coming from an American
Was 15 year old Gu's decision based on representing the Communist party? Or on representing hundreds of millions of perfectly honorable Chinese citizens and their culture? Only Gu knows!
I can't help thinking Nietzschean: that the supposed logic of the diatribes here, on Fox News, and elsewhere is colored by jealousy: of her athleticism, her youthful beauty, and her fame, among other things. And clicks... don't forget clicks.
I am not in the least bit a fan of the Chinese Communist Party, but almost any link that can be built between the American and Chinese cultures is intrinsically valuable for promoting peace, trust, and cooperation between peoples. There is more to life than politics, which is a lesson the Olympics are supposed to teach, except that apparently a giant chunk of people in the US are unwilling to hear that lesson.
She COULD become exactly what she says-- a representative of both cultures-- but certain Americans like everyone in this chat have rejected her. She has the *opportunity* to do good with her dual, bridging nature, except that path is being cut off for her by a mob of people tearing their hair out. Maybe she could use her millions for good sometime in the future, except for the people desperately trying to convince her that the country of her birth is a lost cause.
I'm going to be honest, I didn't know anything about Gu until last week. But the last week has convinced me I'm more proud to call her a fellow American than the catty, spiteful second-guessers railing against her.
Brava Eileen. Looking forward to 3 more gold medals wherever in 2030.