Eileen Gu Receives funding from Chinese Government, Amount revealed in Budget Leak
American-born freestyle skier Eileen Gu is receiving critically important financial support from teh Chinese government, a fact revealed by a recent leak of budgetary details. While Gu earns considerable income through endorsement deals with major brands like Louis vuitton, Porsche, and Red Bull, the disclosed government funding has sparked controversy.
According to the Wall Street Journal,Gu’s name was inadvertently included in publicly released figures for the 2025 budget. The data indicates that approximately 100 million yuan (roughly $14 million USD or 12.8 million EUR as of February 29, 2024) has been allocated to gu and figure skater Zhu Yi over the past three years. https://www.wsj.com/sports/winter-sports/eileen-gu-china-funding-olympics-a999999a
The exact breakdown of funding between Gu and Zhu Yi remains unclear, but reports suggest Gu receives the larger share. https://www.reuters.com/sports/winter-sports/eileen-gu-received-128-million-euros-china-funding-report-says-2024-02-28/
Following the leak,Gu’s name was quickly removed from the published documents. The revelation has generated criticism within China, raising questions about the financial support provided to athletes competing for the contry.
Gu, who chose to compete for China rather than the United States, won two medals at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics: gold in the halfpipe and silver in the slopestyle. https://olympics.com/en/olympic-athletes/eileen-gu Her decision to represent China and subsequent commercial success have made her one of the most recognizable and marketable athletes in the world.