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ESPN gave a U.S.-born athlete who competed for China in the Olympics the Very best Breakthrough Athlete ESPY award on Wednesday.

Eileen Gu, who was born in San Francisco to a Chinese mother, represented China in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing fairly than her indigenous United States. The youthful athlete gained two gold medals for China in freestyle skating, in accordance to ESPN.

EILEEN GU Must NOT BE Element OF THE US BID FOR THE OLYMPICS

“I also want to share this second with all the outstanding revolutionary woman athletes who’ve occur just before me, who paved the way for persons like me,” she mentioned through her acceptance speech. “Also to the youthful women who are going to arrive after me and who are going to be the change makers and who are going to press it one particular move further nearer to equality.” She concluded by thanking her mother and grandmother right before a quick concept in Mandarin.

In an Instagram put up, Gu declared in 2019, at age 15, that she was picking out to characterize China in the 2022 Winter Olympics.

“I am very pleased of my heritage, and similarly very pleased of my American upbringings. The opportunity to help encourage millions of youthful people the place my mom was born, for the duration of the 2022 Beijing Olympic Wintertime Video games is a after-in-a-life span option to assist to boost the sport I love. Through skiing, I hope to unite people, market popular being familiar with, develop conversation, and forge friendships among nations,” she wrote.

Specified that the Intercontinental Olympic Committee holds that athletes have to maintain passports for the countries they characterize and China will not make it possible for twin citizenship, Gu would have experienced to renounce her U.S. citizenship, as noted in an ESPN profile. She has refused to comment on whether or not or not she renounced her U.S. citizenship. She has also refused to remark on the Chinese government’s human rights report, even when requested instantly.

In February 2019, she traveled to China to surface future to Chinese President Xi Jinping when he gave a speech urging Chinese athletes to win medals in purchase to lead to “the nation’s terrific rejuvenation,” according to the Economist. Gu and her sponsors have in no way acknowledged this experience. In Oct, she starred in a Chinese film that opened in Xinjiang province, near where by the Chinese authorities is accused of detaining 1 million Uyghur Muslims in focus camps.

Irrespective of her refusal to remark on political difficulties in China, Gu is very vocal about social justice difficulties in the U.S., this sort of as her assistance for the Black Life Make a difference motion or speaking out from anti-Asian bigotry, in accordance to the South China Early morning Put up.