Once again the Winter Olympics have rolled around, and although we might have been deprived of the breathtaking scenery we’d hoped for, there’s been more than enough controversy to source the drama. Here in the UK, the winter games are not as great a moment of national togetherness as the Summer Olympics, and I would not be surprised to hear of a friend not having watched a single event. Perhaps we struggle to feel patriotic about something we’re not terribly good at…. However, in many other countries winter Olympians are major celebrities. Decorated US snowboarder Shaun White has recently landed himself with Hollywood a-lister Nina Dobrev; these athletes operate as part of the superstar milieu.
This winter, certain competitors have been publicly condemned for their allegiances to certain countries. Freestyle skier and gold medal winner Eileen Gu was recently slammed by a Fox News (are we surprised?) analyst for representing China instead of the United States. Born to an American father but singularly-raised by her first-generation Chinese mother, Gu has skied for China since ‘switching sides’ in 2019. The criticism is undeniably steeped in ongoing tensions between the two historically-sparring nations. The analyst is suggesting Gu’s decision is somehow symbolic of the wider political backdrop, as if the skier is competing on direct behalf of the Chinese government. We should mention that other competitors have also changed teams, like skier Gus Kenworthy from team USA to team GB. And yet because there is a reasonably warm relationship between the two, this is not deemed problematic. Gu, on the other hand, at just 18 years old has become the innocent target of cruel online vitriol.
This is not a recent phenomenon. The Olympic Committee only stipulates that a competitor be a national of the country they wish to compete for, our own 2012 summer Olympic team featured 60 foreign-born athletes. While national identity is important and certain spectators, rightly or wrongly, want to feel they’re cheering on someone loyal to their country and their country alone, the Winter Olympics are already steeped in enough controversy for this vendetta to seem totally misplaced and ridiculous. Even just the fact of China hosting is enough to make them problematic, before we even mention that a mere child was found to have used performance-enhancing drugs. It is surely the least of our concern who participants choose to compete for. Kenworthy’s decision was strategic; he would have struggled to make the US team. On the other hand, Gu said she felt compelled to honour her mother’s homeland. In a recent interview, she said she’d like to ‘forge friendship between nations’. Indeed, both Gu and Kenworthy are wonderful examples of a dual cultural identity, with both saying they hoped their decisions would encourage a younger generation of aspiring winter olympians. This is surely something to be celebrated, rather than lambasted. A debate about patriotism should not threaten to cloud over Gu’s sensational sporting successes, let’s all hope to see a lot more of the talented young star in the future.