The 2026 Winter Olympics and Chinese diaspora in the SF Bay Area
The 2026 Winter Olympics have come and gone, and I’m proud of both of the gold medalists from my home area: figure skater Alysa Liu of Oakland and freestyle skier Eileen Gu of San Francisco. As a Chinese American, and as a lifelong Bay Area resident, it’s awesome that young women athletes in my demographic are achieving success on the world stage.
I think the whole controversy over Eileen Gu competing for China is overblown. In my opinion, it stems purely from Sinophobia. No one usually has an issue with children of immigrants competing for their parents’ home countries. (Hell, even the Attorney General of California, Rob Bonta, had a daughter play for the Philippines’ soccer team in the 2023 Women’s World Cup.) It really has more to do with the strained diplomatic relationship between the US and China. But that’s not Eileen Gu’s fault? And, as Alysa Liu pointed out, it’s the same racists who would tell Gu to “go back to China” who are now demanding her loyalty to the United States.
I’m no fan of the CCP. My family immigrated here long before Mao, so I don’t have any loyalty to the current government of China whatsoever. I personally wouldn’t compete for China, based on solely an ethnic connection. But Eileen Gu speaks fluent Mandarin, spent summers in Beijing, and has a Chinese passport. I’m mixed, and were I an elite athlete, I could and would easily compete for Sweden (heja Sverige - I’m a dual citizen)...and I’m sure no one would bat an eye at that. No one would imply I was betraying the country I grew up in if I competed under the Swedish flag.
That’s not to say I’m equally proud of both of them. I’m from Alameda, which is by all accounts a suburb of Oakland. Alysa is a hero around here! My wife was talking to a cashier at Safeway who checked her out and didn’t recognize her, but thought her hair was cool (it is) and later saw her on the news. Mayor Barbara Lee gave her a key to the city, and institutions like Children’s Fairyland and the Oakland Zoo temporarily renamed themselves in her honor. Her most recent feature in the news is “screaming” over Ryan Coogler (also from Oakland) winning the Oscar for best original screenplay for Sinners (which I also saw and really liked, but that’s another story).