How citizenship row clouded Eileen Gu’s Olympics

Until recently, the US-born freestyle skier Eileen Gu – or Gu Ailing as she is known in China – was one of the rising numbers of Chinese Americans straddling the two countries. They are comfortable operating between the two cultures and systems, taking pride in their heritage as well as their upbringing. Gu, now 18, was born in San Francisco to an American father and a Chinese mother. She’s a big fan of Chinese dumplings and, every summer, she flew back to Beijing to attend cram school for mathematics. “When…

For the Games, Xi Ordered Up a Snow Sports Fever. Will it Last?

Follow our latest coverage of the 2022 Winter Olympics. BEIJING — In the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, which has sweltering temperatures for much of the year, children are ditching their flip flops for skis and hitting the indoor slopes. Out west, high up on the Tibetan Plateau, Qinghai Province has become an unlikely center for curling, the traditional Scottish sport known as “ice kettle” in Chinese. Over in the northeastern province of Liaoning, a group of retired men gather every day in the winter to strap on helmets and…

Eileen Gu Takes on Slopestyle Qualifying After Snow Delay

China’s new favorite Olympic athlete, 18-year-old freestyle skier Eileen Gu, begins a quest for what she hopes will be her second gold medal, this time in slopestyle. Gu, who grew up in California but competes for China, is a favorite in the event, where competitors ski through a mountain course of rails and obstacles before navigating a series of three big jumps. Qualifiers for the event were originally scheduled for Sunday, but high winds and rare blizzard conditions pushed them to Monday. Finals are on Tuesday. Gu already has one…

Chloe Kim and Shaun White Thrilled Fans at the Dew Tour

The December Dew Tour stop is always a big one for the best snowboarders and freestyle skiers and for the fans who come to party and watch. In an Olympic season like this, it is even bigger — a key Olympic qualifying event for many athletes and a strong peek at what to expect come February. If this year’s event in Copper Mountain, Colo., was an indication, the competition in the halfpipe and the slopestyle course at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games is going to be tight, filled with bigger…

Mounting concern over environmental cost of fake snow for Olympics

The mountains that will be the setting of the Alpine events for the forthcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing boast spectacular scenery and breathtaking runs, but lack just one vital ingredient: real snow. Between January and March this year, the National Alpine Ski Centre in Yanqing, about 55 miles north-west of Beijing, had just 2cm of snow. London, Paris and Madrid all recorded greater snowfalls, according to data compiled by the website worldweatheronline.com. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) now faces mounting questions about the environmental cost of the Games, which open…