JO-2022: Eileen Gu, "the dragon princess" wins gold for China in big air skiing
Audio 01:17
Eileen Gu won a gold medal for China in freestyle skiing.
Manan VATSYAYANA AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
3 mins
Eileen Gu won the gold medal in
big air
skiing , a discipline that consists of jumping off a giant springboard to perform acrobatic tricks.
At 18, the double world champion is already a real skiing star in China.
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with our correspondent in Beijing
,
Stéphane Lagarde
The China Central Television commentator lost his Mandarin on Tuesday morning.
"
Hello
," he says, seeing the IOC President applaud on
Eileen Gu
's third jump .
Subways and offices all have their noses on their mobile phone screens…Gold medal!
The
freestyle
skier was immediately renamed "
Yujiao Long
! "
“: a female dragon name for the athlete from San Francisco and now Chinese who could make a
strike
and win up to 3 gold medals during these Olympics.
As this employee of a state company hopes:
I like it for so many reasons.
She has strong self-discipline.
And then it's not just skiing, she's fabulous in so many things.
He is a model for us.
»
A celebrity in all fields
The young woman, who has 1.4 million subscribers on the Weibo network, is making headlines.
She is a model for a dozen luxury brands.
We also see her in a Qipao dress even on the posters in the elevators of the residences of the Chinese capital.
"
She unlocked the password to wealth
," one user comments.
“
Gog, go, Gu
” says this teacher again: “
It's someone who says they play sports not to win but to do the best thing.
This positive and optimistic attitude can inspire the youth and it represents well what a Chinese person is.
»
Beijing: the young Chinese-American skier Eileen Gu, new gold medal at Big Air, is the darling of the Chinese and advertising (February 2022) © Stéphane Lagarde / RFI
Of Chinese mother and American father, Eileen Gu who was born and raised in the United States is today one of the favorites of the Chinese public for these Olympic Games.
With this new medal, "
the frog princess
", as her fans nicknamed her after she wore a green helmet, became "
dragon
".
A patriotic enthusiasm linked to the medal which makes some people happy and others unhappy.
Because a poor performance can be a cleaver in a weibosphere fueled by nationalism.
Born in the United States and naturalized Chinese like her fellow skier, Zhu Yi suffered this weekend an avalanche of vitriolic attacks from Internet users.
The skater suffered a fall in her short program which sent Team China down in the standings.
Immediately critics unsheathed the hashtags #ZuyiAchuté and #ZuYiAEchoué.
This attitude very far from the spirit of Coubertin led to the deactivation of comments on his name.
► To read also:
JO-2022: Tess Ledeux 2nd in big air skiing behind Eileen Gu, 4th medal for France
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Olympic Games 2022