Eileen Gu’s Chinese fans flock to Weibo to hail star’s decision to join US Winter Olympics bid as ambassador
- Double Olympic gold medallist says decision shows ‘beauty of globalisation’, adding she has backing of ‘incredibly supportive’ China
- More than 220 million Chinese fans flock Weibo to voice their support, with many describing Gu as a ‘powerful’ female role model and ambassador
More than 220 million people have so far responded to a hashtag, with comments overwhelmingly in support of the teenager’s decision to side with the Salt Lake City bid.
“Gu Ailing is an international ambassador and influential athlete,” said one user. “I feel that it is rare to have such an excellent woman with international characteristics.”
“Gu Ailing’s influence in the sports field is far beyond the cognition of most Chinese people,” said another user. “When the media interviewed her, they either asked her what she liked to eat, or asked her how many hours she slept a day, and never looked at her achievements.”
Many have also referred to “Frog Princess” as she is known on Weibo as a “powerful” female role model and ambassador.
Gu represented China at the Beijing Winter Olympics earlier this year, winning two golds and a silver. A decision she said at the time was motivated by a desire to “inspire millions of young people” in her mother’s home country.
The teenager revealed her decision during the TIME100 Summit on Wednesday (Hong Kong Time), and said she saw it as a “beautiful example of globalisation”.
“Salt Lake specifically wants to become a global destination for athletes everywhere to come train there and they want to incorporate 15 new countries into the Winter Olympics,” she said. “I think that’s something that’s really beautiful and I’ve always stood for that and so I’m really honoured to be a part of the whole thing.”
