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China’s Eileen Gu talked to reporters on Thursday following the qualifying round in the ski halfpipe, in which she hopes to make history with a third medal.
The 18-year-old American-born skier who chose to represent China in the 2022 Winter Olympics answered questions about her nationality and goals for the future.
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Ailing Eileen Gu, of China, adjusts her hat during the women's freestyle skiing slopestyle medal ceremony at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022, in Zhangjiakou, China. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
"People sometimes don't know what to do with other people when they're not fitting in a box," she told reporters. "They say, ‘Is she Chinese? Is she American? Is she a model? Is she a student? Why is she trying to change the world when she’s only 18?’"
Gu had been under the microscope for deciding to compete for China over the U.S. Born to a Chinese mother, Gu estimates she's spent at least a quarter of her life in China. Her origin story, as she tells it, begins with the time she pitched the idea for China's first slopestyle ski event at age 9 — and won.
Since choosing to side with China in 2019, she has said repeatedly that her goal is to encourage girls and women to take up winter sports — aligning with China's pledge to inspire 300 million to hit the ice or snow.
China's Eileen Gu competes during the women's halfpipe qualification at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022, in Zhangjiakou, China. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
On Thursday, she told reports she wasn’t trying to solve the world’s problems.
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"I'm not trying to solve political problems right now," she said. "And I'm aware that I'm not able to do everything I want to do in this exact moment."
"My biggest goal is for some girl to be sitting at home watching freeskiing for the first time and thinking, ‘Maybe that could be me some day.’ Maybe she sees someone who looks like her doing it and thinks, ‘Hey, I can do that, too.’"
China's Eileen Gu talks to reporters after the women's halfpipe qualification at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022, in Zhangjiakou, China. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Last week, Gu faced questions over her citizenship. Chinese state media has claimed that Gu became a Chinese national at the age of 15, according to Reuters. The government does not allow dual citizenship, meaning the California native would have had to give up her U.S. citizenship in order to do so.
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Gu is looking to add to the medals she’s already won in these Games. She won gold in the big air and silver in slopestyle. If she wins another medal, she will be the first action-sports athlete to win three medals at the same Olympics.
Fox News’ Paulina Dedaj and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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