15-year-old U.S. skier Eileen Gu granted Chinese citizenship

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Eileen Gu, a 15-year-old U.S. skier, on Thursday announced on Weibo that she is now officially a Chinese citizen. According to multiple sports media outlets including Tencent Sports and Sina Sports, Gu is the first naturalized skiing athlete in China.

"Hello, my name is Eileen Gu and I am a Chinese freestyle skiing athlete," wrote Gu on Weibo with a screenshot of her information on the International Ski Federation (FIS) showing that her nationality is already Chinese.

Born September 3, 2003, in the U.S., Gu has an American father and a Chinese mother. She had her first encounter with skiing when she was three years old. At the age of nine, Gu won the championship of the girls' group in the U.S. national skiing tournament. She began to attend international competitions on behalf of the U.S. from the 2017-18 season.

Eileen Gu's information on the International Ski Federation (FIS) shows that her nationality is Chinese. /Scrrenshot of the official webisite of the FIS

In February 2018, Gu participated in the FIS Slopestyle event for the first time and ranked No.4 in the end. In November, she finished the FIS Freeski World Cup ranking No.11 of all participants. As she kept improving her skills and gaining more experience, Gu was doing better in the 2018-19 season. In the three World Cup stops she attended, Gu pocketed one gold and one silver medal.

According to Tencent Sports, though she was born in the U.S., Gu loves Chinese culture and is able to recite Chinese ancient poems. When she introduced herself to others, she preferred to call herself a Chinese girl. In her daily life, Gu can speak Chinese with authentic Beijing accent.