After Olympics controversy, Eileen Gu gets nothing but love at SF parade

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Olympic gold medalist and Grand Marhsal Eileen Gu waves during the Chinese New Year Parade in San Francisco, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (Jeff Chiu/Associated Press)


Each year, San Francisco's Chinese New Year Parade draws hundreds of thousands to the city's Chinatown. For an event that draws eyes from TV sets around the world, the parade is typically a straightforward, uncontroversial affair.

In this respect, 2026's parade looked like it could have been different. That's because Eileen Gu, the San Francisco-born three-time Olympic gold medalist in freestyle skiing, was grand marshal. The 22-year-old Gu may be the highest-profile figure to lead the parade in recent years, but she's had to fend off criticism, mostly from conservatives, for her decision to compete for China in the Olympics.

But if any critics were in the crowds lining Kearny Street on Saturday evening, they didn't make themselves known. Instead, every time she turned a corner, Gu was greeted by a renewed wave of emphatic cheers. Onlookers craned their necks and held their phones above the other heads lining the sidewalk. Parents hoisted their children onto their shoulders.

Seated in the back of a red Mustang convertible, Gu kept a relaxed, affable demeanor, smiling and waving at crowds seated in bleachers and pressed against barricades. Two police officers walked ahead of her car. When fans shouted her name, she waved back, or made a heart with her hands.

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Olympic gold medalist and Grand Marhsal Eileen Gu gestures during the Chinese New Year Parade in San Francisco, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) (Jeff Chiu/Associated Press)


Gu, a six-time Olympic medalist, is one of the most decorated skiers of her generation. She's among the world's highest-paid female athletes, with Forbes reporting she made $23 million last year. She is also a model and a student at Stanford, where she studies international relations.

But Gu, who was born in the United States and grew up in San Francisco's Seacliff neighborhood, attracts attention for other reasons. In 2019, as she was emerging as a promising young skier, she decided to compete for China, where her mother, Yan Gu, grew up. Against the backdrop of growing hostility between the United States and China, and growing xenophobia in America, this decision has cast Gu as a complicated figure. Recently, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Chinese government paid her millions of dollars to compete in the Olympics and other events.

In interviews, Gu toes a thin line. Asked by Time about China's alleged human-rights abuses against the Uyghur population, Gu declined to take a stance: "I'm not an expert on this. I haven't done the research. I don't think it's my business. I'm not going to make big claims on my social media."

This balancing act has allowed her to remain a media darling in China, where she enjoys celebrity status and the endorsements that come with it. In the United States, it's also drawn the ire of conservative figures. Tucker Carlson has called her a "true villain." Vice President JD Vance, asked by Fox News about Gu's decision to compete for China, suggested that Gu ought to have competed for the United States:

"I certainly think that somebody who grew up in the United States of America, who benefited from our education system, from the freedoms and liberties that make this country a great place, I would hope that they want to compete with the United States of America," he said.

Gu, for her part, has parried this sort of criticism.

"So many athletes compete for a different country," she told USA Today in response to Vance's comments. "... People only have a problem with me doing it because they kind of lump China into this monolithic entity, and they just hate China. So it's not really about what they think it's about."

In San Francisco, though, no complicated feelings surfaced about the athlete. Gu remains a hometown hero. At Union Square, fans standing outside the Nintendo Store stopped in place as she passed, briefly cutting off foot traffic along the parade route. As she slowly approached Portsmouth Square, two teenage girls sprinted ahead of her car to find a spot to watch her pass.

"I hope in the new year, everybody finds prosperity, health, time with family," Gu said, addressing the spectators during a brief stop on Kearny Street. "Make the world a better place in your own way, pursue your passions, do what you love and bring it back home, San Francisco! Thank you so much for all the love tonight!"

Gu was named grand marshal before this year's Winter Olympics in Milan, where she won two silver medals and a gold medal. Actor and rapper Awkwafina was grand marshal in 2024; actor Joan Chen led the parade in 2025.

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This article originally published at After Olympics controversy, Eileen Gu gets nothing but love at SF parade.

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