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Beijing Budget Briefly Listed Multimillion Payments to Eileen Gu, Renewing Scrutiny at Milan-Cortina

A Wall Street Journal review of a 2025 public budget found $6.6 million in allocations and nearly 100 million yuan over three years for Gu and fellow U.S.-born athlete Zhu Yi before officials scrubbed their names.

Overview

  • Eileen Gu, who represents China and was born in the United States, has already won slopestyle silver at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.
  • The Beijing Municipal Sports Bureau’s budget tied the payouts to “striving for excellent results in qualifying for the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics,” according to the reports.
  • References to Gu and Zhu Yi were later removed from the posted budget, and online criticism in China was reported to have been taken down.
  • The documents did not specify how the funds were divided, while independent reporting shows Gu earns more than $20 million annually from endorsements and comparatively little from prize money.
  • Questions about Gu’s citizenship persist as China does not recognize dual nationality, and she maintains her decision to switch in 2019 was about heritage and impact rather than financial gain.