On and off skis, Gu is a high achiever in every part of her world.

California-born and raised by an American father and Chinese mother, she attended private school in San Francisco and is currently taking a sabbatical from her studies at Stanford University, where she majors in international relations and previously studied quantum physics.

She is also fluent in Mandarin, and as a child would spend summers in Beijing.

“Sometimes it feels like I’m carrying the weight of two countries on my shoulders,” Gu said earlier in the 2026 Games.

In 2019, at the age of just 15, she switched her sporting allegiance from the US to China, wanting to “inspire millions of young people in Beijing – my mother’s birthplace” before the 2022 Olympics.

Whatever her reasoning, it was a decision that proved lucrative.

In December, Forbes ranked Gu as the fourth-highest paid female athlete for 2025, behind only tennis players Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek.

But unlike those three, only a tiny amount of her $23.1m (£17.1m) income last year came from prize money from her sport – around $100,000 (£74,000).

Instead, it comes through endorsements with brands such as Red Bull, Porsche and Tiffany & Co, while she has walked the runway for Louis Vuitton and Victoria’s Secret and is signed by modelling agency IMG.

It also emerged in 2025, as reported in the Wall Street Journal, external, that Gu and another athlete were set to be paid a combined $6.6m (£4.9m) by the Beijing Municipal Sports Bureau.

In total, the two athletes were said to be paid nearly $14m (£10.4m) over the past three years by the Bureau.

But her decision to compete for China was also one that drew much criticism, not just because of China and the US’ rivalry as the world’s two biggest economies, but because of China’s authoritarian Communist Party rulers and its poor record on human rights – which it denies.

While the initial furore died down, it has raised its head again at these Games.

At the start of the Olympics, American freestyle skier Hunter Hess spoke out about the actions of the United States’ Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) organisation and ongoing tensions in the US.

In January, intensive care nurse Alex Pretti, 37, and fellow Minnesota resident Renee Good, 37, were both killed by ICE agents in the city, sparking widespread protests.

Asked what it means to represent the USA, Hess said: “It’s a little hard.

“Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the US.”

President Donald Trump responded to Hess’ comment by calling him a “real loser”, and Gu was one of several athletes who publicly defended Hess and others speaking out.

“As someone who’s been caught in the crossfire before, I feel sorry for the athletes,” she said.

But that enraged her critics, given Gu chose to speak out against Trump but has never criticised China.

Former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom called her a “traitor”, adding she “was born in America, raised in America, lives in America and chose to compete against her own country for the worst human rights abuser on the planet – China”.

“You don’t get to enjoy the freedoms of US citizenship while acting as a global PR asset for the Chinese Communist Party,” he wrote on X.

When asked about China’s human rights record by Time magazine, external, in an interview published in January, she answered: “I’m not an expert on this.

“I haven’t done the research. I don’t think it’s my business.”