Today marks the start of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, where around 3,000 athletes from approximately 90 nations have gathered to compete across 15 different sports. For most participants, the true rewards are not monetary but symbolic: the honor of earning a medal, seeing their flag raised, and experiencing a profound sense of national pride. Beyond a select few professional athletes, most Olympians face financial challenges, often investing significant personal funds in training, coaching, travel, equipment, nutrition, and healthcare, with no assurance of recouping their expenses.

Securing an Olympic medal doesn’t necessarily bring financial stability. While some nations offer no government-funded bonuses, others provide varying rewards depending on the country, sport, and medal type. In the United States, medalists receive modest bonuses from the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, unlike other countries where athletes might earn substantial sums for a gold medal.

For instance, U.S. athletes receive $37,500 for a gold medal, $22,500 for silver, and $15,000 for bronze. In contrast, some countries offer far more lucrative incentives, with bonuses reaching up to $800,000, often accompanied by tax breaks, housing, vehicles, or lifelong stipends.

For the majority of athletes competing in Milan, a six-figure bonus would be transformative. However, this isn’t the case for everyone. For one standout competitor at these Games, even an $800,000 reward for a gold medal would hardly make a dent in her annual earnings.

The athlete in question is Eileen Gu, who stands as the highest-earning participant at the Milan Games. Despite competing in a sport known for modest prize money, she outpaces even the professional hockey players in terms of earnings. Living in the United States, training in Switzerland, and competing for China, her current citizenship status remains a topic of speculation.

(Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

From Bay Area Prodigy to Global Star

Raised in San Francisco by her mother, a Chinese immigrant, Eileen Gu began skiing at a young age while excelling academically. She attended prestigious private schools in the Bay Area, trained extensively in Europe, and later pursued studies at Stanford University, maintaining much of her life in the United States. By her late teens, Gu had already established herself as one of the most technically proficient freestyle skiers globally, achieving remarkable success across multiple disciplines.

Her athletic success alone, however, does not explain her financial ascent. Gu is unusually telegenic, fashion-forward, and fluent in both English and Mandarin, a combination that made her exceptionally attractive to global brands long before she ever became an Olympic champion.

In 2019, Gu made the decision that would permanently reshape her career and public image: she chose to compete internationally for China, her mother’s home country, rather than the United States. The move immediately turned her into one of the most discussed athletes in the world, praised by some as a bridge between cultures and criticized by others as a political or financial calculation.

$23 Million Endorsement Champion

Eileen Gu’s unique blend of Olympic success, aesthetic appeal, and rare cross-cultural fluency has translated into an endorsement portfolio unlike anything previously seen in winter sports. She has endorsement contracts with at least 30 international and Chinese brands.  Gu has secured long-term deals across fashion, luxury goods, sportswear, and consumer brands, particularly companies seeking access to both Western and Chinese markets through a single figure. Her known endorsement partners include:

• Anta
• Louis Vuitton
• Tiffany & Co.
• Victoria’s Secret
• Rolex
• Red Bull
• Cadillac
• IWC Schaffhausen
• Mengniu Dairy
• Luckin Coffee

These partnerships translated into $23 million in earnings in 2025, with at least that much on tap again in 2026. These earnings make Eileen the highest-paid athlete at the games by a wide margin.

The Citizenship Question

The biggest question and controversy about Eileen Gu is whether she is a U.S. citizen, a Chinese citizen, or something in between at this exact moment.

By way of comparison, citizenship rules are usually straightforward. I was born in the United States, but my grandparents were born in Ireland. Ireland allows children and grandchildren of people born in Ireland to obtain Irish citizenship, so I hold both American and Irish passports. Technically, that would make me eligible to compete for Ireland at the Olympics. And someday, if entering text into a WordPress box becomes an Olympic sport, I may even bring home gold for either America or Ireland. Whichever offers the better bonus.

China does not allow dual citizenship.

Under Chinese law, dual nationality is not recognized. Anyone who voluntarily acquires foreign citizenship is required to relinquish Chinese citizenship, and vice versa. That legal reality has fueled years of speculation since Eileen Gu first burst onto the international stage in 2019. If she retained her American citizenship, how is she eligible to compete for China? If she renounced it, why has there been no public confirmation? And if some exception exists, what does that mean for other athletes?

The “mystery” isn’t actually about whether she holds a Chinese passport—she almost certainly does. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) requires a valid passport for competition, and back in 2022, they confirmed that Gu had naturalized in China in 2019. The real question is whether she ever actually gave up her American one.

Usually, there is a paper trail for this. The U.S. Department of the Treasury publishes a quarterly list in the Federal Register of every individual who has chosen to expatriate and renounce their citizenship. Since Gu began competing for China, journalists and skeptics have scoured these records. As of early 2026, her name has yet to appear on any of those lists.

Gu has consistently declined to answer those questions directly. In a 2022 interview, and again in more recent media rounds leading up to Milan, she has leaned on a carefully worded explanation of identity rather than legal status:

“Since I was little, I’ve always said when I’m in the U.S., I’m American, but when I’m in China, I’m Chinese.”

That ambiguity has made Gu a lightning rod. Some American critics accuse her of opportunism or disloyalty, while some Chinese commentators question whether she is truly committed to the country she represents.

Think about it – Eileen was born and raised in California. She learned to ski in Lake Tahoe. Her family lives in the United States. She is CURRENTLY an undergrad student at Stanford University. She does train in China, though (and Switzerland). Speaking of her China training…

In early 2025, documents briefly published by the Beijing city government indicated that more than $6.6 million had been allocated for training expenses for Gu and another U.S.-born winter athlete ahead of the Milan Games. The funds were described as “assurance expenditure” for elite competition training. Shortly after the documents were noticed, references to the athletes were removed from the government website, and related coverage by Chinese financial outlets was taken down as well. Neither Gu nor Chinese officials publicly addressed the allocation.

The episode underscored how different Gu’s situation appears to be from that of a typical Olympic athlete. While most competitors are piecing together funding from sponsors, national federations, and personal savings, Gu appears to operate within a hybrid system that blends private commercial wealth with substantial state-backed training support.

Regardless of what her passport actually says, Eileen’s timing has been exceptionally fortunate. For decades, Chinese Olympic athletes were largely shut out of the global endorsement economy altogether. Commercial deals were discouraged, tightly regulated, or outright prohibited. When endorsements were allowed, they typically required government approval, and athletes were often required to split their income with state sports authorities. While those restrictions have loosened in recent years, it remains unclear whether Gu is subject to any revenue-sharing arrangement today. Neither Gu nor her representatives have publicly clarified how her endorsement income is structured.

In the next few weeks, we will know if Eileen will add another Olympic medal to her collection. If she does, it will count for China on the podium. She’ll then bring the medal “home” to America. Will there be a parade in her honor in America? What would we be honoring exactly if so? No matter what, she’ll make a fortune for herself.