There has been so much to celebrate at the 2026 Winter Olympics. The U.S. women’s hockey team captured the gold medal in a thrilling overtime victory against Canada. The men’s team is in the semifinals. U.S. figure skaters topped the podium in the team event last week, and Alysa Liu became the first American woman to win an individual figure skating medal in 20 years after a flawless free skate on Thursday.
There have also been plenty of moments of stirring patriotism, like when skier Breezy Johnson captured the first gold of the games for Team USA when she won the women’s downhill event last weekend and demonstrated pure class on the medal stand, singing along to the National Anthem with tears in her eyes and her hand over her heart as the American flag was raised.
Bad Behavior
But then there have been several instances of unfortunate behavior from U.S. athletes as they opted to take the bait and criticize the country they competed to represent on the world stage. Figure skater Amber Glenn and freestyle skier Hunter Hess are two such examples (get Megyn’s take on their antics here).
In a category all her own, however, is freestyle skier Eileen Gu, who was born and raised in the United States but controversially competes for China. The decorated athlete wasted no time defending athletes like Hess after he was called a “real loser” by President Donald Trump for saying he had “mixed emotions” representing the U.S.
Meanwhile, Gu has remained entirely mum on issues relating to human rights abuses in China, including those concerning the Uyghur population, and smugly embarrassed a reporter who asked a logical question about whether she was content with the silver medals she has won thus far at the Milan-Cortina games when she was widely considered the favorite to take home the gold.
Megyn’s Take
Megyn had some thoughts on Gu’s decision to ski under the Chinese flag and what she described as her “stomach-turning” behavior at a press conference after her second-place finish earlier this week in the big air competition. Here are Megyn’s thoughts, edited for length and clarity:
“Eileen Gu was born in America to, I think, an American father and a Chinese mother. She was raised here. She went to Stanford. She had this privileged upbringing in San Francisco, all the gifts. She becomes this world-class skier. And then because she got a big fat check from China – she claims it was to inspire young Chinese athletes – she decided to ski in the Olympics under the Chinese flag.
She gets all the advantages of being an American. She gets all the support from her fellow Americans. She gets an education at an American university, one of our most prestigious. And then she flies the coop to go compete for China, where she reportedly got a check. So, that’s Eileen Gu’s values.
Eileen Gu was a heavy favorite to win a couple of golds this week. She did win two golds in the 2022 Olympics, but instead she took silver this time around. She couldn’t quite get it done, and someone asked her about it. You tell me whether this is a likable person:
REPORTER: Do you see these as two silvers gained or two goals lost?
GU: [laughs] I’m the most decorated free skier, female free skier, in history. I think that’s a answer in and of itself. How do I say this? Winning a medal at the Olympics is a life-changing experience for every athlete. Doing it five times is exponentially harder. Because every medal is equally hard for me, but everybody else’s expectations rise, right? And so the two metals lost situation, to be quite frank with you, I think is kind of a ridiculous perspective to take. I’m showcasing my best skiing. I’m doing things that quite literally have never been done before, and so I think that is more than good enough. But thank you.
Oh my god, she is stomach turning – the self aggrandizing, the self flattery, the sneering ‘I’m the best. You will love me.’
Enjoy China, okay? Goodbye. We don’t care. We don’t want you. I am so glad you are enjoying your silver. By the way, I don’t think China is going to be happy with that. Hate to break it to you, they are kind of prone to demands for excellence.
Here are the state the stats on her: She is the highest paid Winter Olympic athlete in the world, making an estimated $23 million in 2025 alone amid partnerships with Chinese companies, including the Bank of China, and some Western companies. She has never spoken out publicly against China’s alleged human rights abuses, of course, because they won’t allow that. You are not going to get your payday if you do that. She hasn’t said anything… because she wants her check.
And then when that reporter asks the sweetest thing… to the person who is favored to win the golds, she gets her nasty, sneering self onto a reporter who probably makes $35,000 a year to effectively slap him down because she is ‘Eileen Gu for China’…
She is somebody who also spoke out in defense of that Hunter Hess who was ripping on America… She thought it was just fine for him to do all that… She was quick to get his back because she loves people speaking out about human rights at the Olympics. It just won’t be her, you see, because you could get the death penalty in China if you say any of that shit there.
But she got her medals, she got her endorsement deals, and she got to make that blue collar reporter feel like shit. So, big win, Eileen. Literally no one over here is rooting for you.”
You can check out Megyn’s full analysis by tuning in to episode 1,256 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s The Megyn Kelly Channel (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.