Eileen Gu Offers Support to Zhu Yi Amid Reports of Online Attacks: ‘She’s Amazing’

Figure skater Zhu Yi, who gave up her U.S. citizenship in order to join Team China, has reportedly been facing intense criticism on social media following her performance at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. 

According to CNN, the online backlash started after the 19-year-old athlete fell during the short program, with social media users reportedly questioning why she was chosen to represent China and criticizing everything from her background to the way she speaks Mandarin. The public scrutiny is said to have continued after Zhu Yi fell twice during her free-skate performance on Monday, February 7. The skater was seen holding back tears on the ice, before sobbing openly following the performance.

Such intense pressure would affect any athlete, even without social media involved, and Zhu seemed to speak to this following the free-skate event. “I am relieved because [there is] a lot of pressure and people are expecting a lot,” Zhu told reporters, per CNN. “But right now I’m just going to move on and focus on my individual events.”

She then added, “Honestly, I’ve trained really hard and I think the main thing is coping mentally. I’m trying not to get distracted by outside influence.”

This is the first Olympics for Zhu, who said she was “upset and a little embarrassed” by her performance, adding, “I guess I felt a lot of pressure because I know everybody in China was pretty surprised with the selection for ladies’ singles and I just really wanted to show them what I was able to do.”

But for all the negative energy being directed at Zhu, other social media users have taken to Twitter to offer their support. “Zhu Yi was beautiful and so strong for pushing through that skate until the very end,” wrote one user. “It would have been so easy to have given up, but she held back the tears and fought for every landing until the end. Much respect.”