BigPurpleSkiSuitI've been kind of ignoring this thread for awhile now, but I feel the need to make a take after watching the downhill and big air last night. I feel for the people of China who just want to live and not be fucked up government drones. Unfortunately their government has been in power long enough to brainwash the populace effectively. As people have said before in this thread, sure the US has it's own issues, but they pale in comparison to what China has achieved and continues to achieve throughout recent years. 1960 is now 62 years ago. People are still alive today who remember when the government told its farmers to go make shit steel with all their fuel for the winter and 10s of millions starved and froze to death. The 're-education' camps for the Uyghur that are going on nowadays, not to mention of course Tiananmen square where they ran over students protesting peacefully for democracy with tanks and gunned them down with machine guns. I don't understand how you could possibly want to compete for a country where that government is still in power. I get that there is a massive amount of money to be made with Eileen's dual athlete and supermodel profile, so she really can't offend anyone if she wants to maintain that in China. But she could have chosen quietly to compete for the U.S. where she was born and grew up and learned to ski and no one would have batted an eye. Yeah, she's a kid, and likely listens to others to help monetize her own persona, but she'll make more than enough money in this lifetime to pay for anything she wants. Wish we could hear her opinion on that, but instead we get Ankilla asking her if she'd drink piss and her mom refused to interview with the New York Times because they refused to not ask questions about her opinions on China. So yeah, pisses me off that someone would choose to compete for China.

BigPurpleSkiSuitI think that it is possible to perform your art/skill in a country as a national without lending support to those same notions, but what Eileen Gu is doing isn't it. Take a look at this guy:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Furtw%C3%A4ngler

German conductor who conducted the berlin philharmonic from 1922-45 and opposed Nazism. I mean this is just badass:

"I remember Hitler turning to Furtwängler and telling him that he would now have to allow himself to be used by the party for propaganda purposes, and I remember that Furtwängler refused categorically. Hitler flew into a fury and told Furtwängler that in that case there would be a concentration camp ready for him. Furtwängler quietly replied: "In that case, Herr Reichskanzler, at least I will be in very good company." Hitler couldn't even answer, and vanished from the room."

luthus001Dont think Eileen is consenting to being used for CCP propaganda purposes.

Yes rip the CCP all you want and they deserve it and more. But to say the athlete representing that Nation, remember, and not the CCP or the government, must be a bad person, is i think very mean-spirited and cynical.

Like some have mentioned, Ameria has its own problems. And while its true the American government is far superior (to its domestic population at least. we invade and bomb the shit out of people half a world away) than the CCP is to theirs, the same cannot be said about the American Nation vs the Chinese Nation as a whole. Each side has good and bad. Its never as black and white as the propagandists want to sell you. For example China has lower incarceration rates (than the US) even including all of the 1-2 million Uyghurs presumably in camps. Lower rates of violent crimes. Street cops are generally more friendly and less inclined to shoot first and ask questions later, most of them not even carrying guns. Universal healthcare (with low co-pays) for working people and retirees. Strong family value, low divorce rates and fewer neglected kids. Strong work ethics. Extensive rail transportation system that's more environmentally friendly and just as fast as our domestic flights (airport overlays) and truck freight. Better K-12 education. And despite deteleration under madman Xi, China's human rights situation is better than in many countries the US invaded or meddled with - Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen, or some US allies - Saudi, Pakistan and Israel. Women's rights situation is vastly better than in another US allie - India (and Saudi, obviously). All of that of course counter balanced by CCP's wrongdoings. But CCP is not and does not represent "China".

I dont get why you lot insists that anyone defending the athlete must defend "China". Had no intention of doing that, but since you insist, here you go. Happy now?

And while we are at it, why dont we say any athlete who chooses to represent the US when they have potentially another option, must also be a bad person because of the established 1 Million civilian we killed (directly and indirectly) in Iraq, and more in other countries; the CIA dark money destabilization regions; starving children in places thanks to US sanctions; NSA spying; our 700 military bases overseas; packed prisons with disproportionally black people in it; our democracy on the verge of collapse; a new mass shooting and a new police brutality case every other day; and so on and so forth. Of course I'm not really saying that and I've no interest in bashing the US, but just you realize nothing is black and white. 150 years ago we had slavery and Native American genocide, and women couldn't vote. Progress takes time. And you should ask, for all of our anti-China propaganda in the media, what purposes does it serve, considering we support Saudi Arabia, and we condone Israeli apartheid? Its geopolitics, that's all.

700billionI'm going to guess it has something to do with skiing for china would make her mom proud

TRVP_ANGELThis thread going to make NS banned in China. I'll save us

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skeirmanShe said in an interview that it is because she "loves her heritage," nevermind she was born and raised in the US and her father is American. Her connection to China is that her mom has Chinese citizenship.

wcheesewShe grew up with her Chinese grandma and mother, she speaks Mandarin at home, she goes back to Beijing every summer, she set a goal of completing in Beijing Olympics and say hello to everyone in Mandarin when she was 13.

BigPurpleSkiSuitI dont think it makes her a bad person, but come on, but I put it on par with LeBron and the NBA getting tight with China for that sweet money

hi_vis360Crazy how this thread was resurrected by a bunch of brand new users, right when the Olympics started, and some of them are speaking about China favorably. Not suspicious at all.

eheathIn the past, NS experiences a significant uptick in traffic, users and overall engagement during the olympics, you can take off your tin hat dude.

mattm7Mate their housing market just collapsed because they're biggest property developer was operating like a giant Ponzi scheme

luthus001If i really wanted to defend China, guess i could repeat the government line about how many people they lifted out of poverty and how their standard of living is quite a bit higher than the (East) Indians'. They also killed a lot of people with their crazy ideology and Communist economic experiment.
Im not going there. Xi is a monstrosity. Democracy and freedom has never been so far out of reach for the people, with modern weapons and surveillance technology in the hands of an out-of-control regime. But i digress.
I find it insulting to the collective American intelligence, that unconditional hate for persons caught in this aweful geopolitical crossfire and just trying to do the best they can, is, well, unconditional and enjoyed by a supermajority of Americans including in the skiing community that is normally "chill"

corona100%.

Unfortunately it says nothing good about her as a person that she willingly chooses to represent a country with such an abysmal human rights record (both past and present).

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*TURBONERD*Which American athlete are we talking about here

TOAST.Does it really matter? At the end of the day hopefully she inspired a generation of Chinese kids to pick up skiing. I know the Chinese government is a hot topic these days, but maybe skiing will help there citizens build positive connections to people from other countries and be inspired by them to promote change within China. Most people just want to enjoy their lives and provide for their families, unfortunately there will always be a minority that craves power and that isn't exclusive to China.

BiffbarfI think you overestimate the opportunity chinese kids have to ski

TOAST.Does it really matter? At the end of the day hopefully she inspired a generation of Chinese kids to pick up skiing. I know the Chinese government is a hot topic these days, but maybe skiing will help there citizens build positive connections to people from other countries and be inspired by them to promote change within China. Most people just want to enjoy their lives and provide for their families, unfortunately there will always be a minority that craves power and that isn't exclusive to China.

BigPurpleSkiSuitWell she just made a whole lot of money

corona100%.

Unfortunately it says nothing good about her as a person that she willingly chooses to represent a country with such an abysmal human rights record (both past and present). She's old enough that either 1- she's totally brainwashed or 2- money is more important to her than any human rights issues. Considering she's spent her whole life in the US I have to think it's #2. Pretty sad.

qazwsxedc34Is there prize money winning gold?

@LANTASKILet me preface this first by saying I think Eileen Gu is an incredible athlete. Clearly she has taken women's skiing to another level and thats cool I guess for the people that are into women's skiing.

While I understand her decision to compete for China given her mother's nationality, her marketability in China as a Gold Winning Skier in a burgeoning snow sports market etc, I still question her judgement and the ethics of skiing for Nation with an Authoritarian Regime that imprisons its religious minorities in concentration camps, censors and restricts the basic human rights of its citizens.

I don't check NS as much as I did 20 years ago, but I find it hard to believe this is only rustlin my jimmies?

I find it disappointing that the switch from the US Ski Team to China is essentially a cash grab/sell out move and it is disappointing seeing these actions taken in a sport that was created by a bunch of dirtbags (I say that with the utmost reverence) who wanted to change skiing from the overbearing regulation and stifling nature of the FIS.

I guess we've officially gone the way of snowboarding

DummyBearsWhat do you mean that definitely does say a lot about her as a person whether it’s right or wrong she’s still representing that. As a competitor for that country you represent that ideology right or wrong.

BigPurpleSkiSuit

Film.Is the US ski team going to keep allowing her to use our official practice facilities now that she won?

Seems a lot like Team USA hockey letting the USSR hockey team practice on our ice rinks during the great rivalry.

Film.Is the US ski team going to keep allowing her to use our official practice facilities now that she won?

Seems a lot like Team USA hockey letting the USSR hockey team practice on our ice rinks during the great rivalry.

qazwsxedc34Damn, 10 million. I thought skiers were still earning prize money in the tens of thousands.

scratchskier321she chose to ski for china when she was 15 and still sucked. relax.

DummyBearsWhat do you mean that definitely does say a lot about her as a person whether it’s right or wrong she’s still representing that. As a competitor for that country you represent that ideology right or wrong.

*TURBONERD*So what does that say about athletes representing the US? Do they support the genocide the country was founded on, or the largest prison population (both per capita and absolute) in the world? Do they support the concentration camps that are just as prevalent and just as abhorrent under Biden as they were under Trump?

There are things to criticize about China, particularly some of its conservative social policies and the fact that there are still billionaires in a purportedly socialist country, but even if you take the media fervor about the Uyghurs at face value it's nothing the US hasn't done many times over in terms of scale, and nothing the US isn't currently doing in character. With the multiple blatant instances of outright lying in order to agitate for a war, though, it's difficult at best to take it at face value - a list that's by no means comprehensive includes the Spanish-American War/sinking of the Maine in Havana harbor (which led to a stomach-churning genocide in the Philippines by the US), the Gulf of Tonkin "incident" precipitating the Vietnam War (also arguably a genocide), the Nayirah testimony to justify the Gulf War, and the idea that that Saddam Hussein had WMDs. I encourage y'all to look this shit up. It's a clear pattern.

BiffbarfThe difference is you don't go to prison for talking about that here. That's pretty important. And with all due respect, you're a simp bitch if you try to justify the current ccp with the wrongdoings in the US's past.

*TURBONERD*So what does that say about athletes representing the US? Do they support the genocide the country was founded on, or the largest prison population (both per capita and absolute) in the world? Do they support the concentration camps that are just as prevalent and just as abhorrent under Biden as they were under Trump?

There are things to criticize about China, particularly some of its conservative social policies and the fact that there are still billionaires in a purportedly socialist country, but even if you take the media fervor about the Uyghurs at face value it's nothing the US hasn't done many times over in terms of scale, and nothing the US isn't currently doing in character. With the multiple blatant instances of outright lying in order to agitate for a war, though, it's difficult at best to take it at face value - a list that's by no means comprehensive includes the Spanish-American War/sinking of the Maine in Havana harbor (which led to a stomach-churning genocide in the Philippines by the US), the Gulf of Tonkin "incident" precipitating the Vietnam War (also arguably a genocide), the Nayirah testimony to justify the Gulf War, and the idea that that Saddam Hussein had WMDs. I encourage y'all to look this shit up. It's a clear pattern.