Controversial US-born Chinese Olympic skier Eileen Gu suffers 'terrible accident' in training: report
Bystanders at the Cardrona Alpine Resort in Cardrona told the South China Morning Post that Gu appeared to suffer serious injuries and needed to be taken to the hospital on a stretcher.
Gu reportedly gave a health update on her Weibo account.
"Unfortunately, a very terrible accident occurred yesterday due to human error," she wrote. "Hopefully I'll be back on the snow soon, but I'm still waiting for final confirmation from the expert team.
"I have to concentrate fully during training, especially when I am preparing to start, as it's very dangerous to be interrupted. I also have to focus on picturing and imagining the moves while on the cable car. In order to save time, I don't have lunch breaks and try to use the bathroom as little as possible. So please don't record or take photos while I'm training."
Gu won two gold medals and a silver at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing.
She sparked controversy on the Olympic stage as she decided to compete for China over Team USA. Her father is American but her mother is a first-generation Chinese immigrant.
During the Games, she dodged questions about her citizenship after winning gold. Chinese state media has claimed that Gu became a Chinese national at the age of 15, according to Reuters.
The government does not allow dual citizenship, meaning the California native would have had to give up her U.S. citizenship in order to do so.
Gu estimated she's spent at least a quarter of her life in China. Her origin story, as she tells it, begins with the time she pitched the idea for China's first slopestyle ski event at age 9 — and won.
She said in 2024 that she planned to represent China again in the 2026 Olympics.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Zhang Mingyang, China's fast-rising light heavyweight contender, ready to make history at UFC Shanghai
The regional MMA scene in China is unlike most. Although Asia has a built-in cultural element of martial arts, China has been one of the countries on the continent that has been slower to emerge as a notable player with characters and prospects. That may be by design to an extent, but some fighters become too undeniable to go unnoticed. Take rising UFC light heavyweight contender Zhang Mingyang, who rose through China's best promotions, as a prime example. At age 27, Zhang is about to make history in his fourth UFC appearance after winning a contract through Road to UFC in 2022. Despite China's continuous growth in the sport, led by strawweight all-time great Zhang Weili, the light heavyweight slugger will become the second Chinese fighter to headline a UFC event in the country, behind the legend. UFC Shanghai's main event Saturday will feature Zhang taking on Johnny Walker, making him the first male fighter to headline a UFC event in China and only the second male Chinese fighter to headline a UFC event overall. This statistic came as news to Zhang in our pre-fight conversation, which I apologized for bringing up after adding some extra pressure to the biggest fight of his life. "I just became aware of that," Zhang laughed when speaking to Uncrowned through an interpreter. "Me and Song Yadong are the only two male Chinese UFC fighters to ever headline a UFC event, and I am the first one to do it in China. So, yeah, that's definitely a historical moment for Chinese MMA and for Chinese male fighters. You point out this, I need to calm myself down a little bit because I've never thought about this before. I need to calm down because I don't want to do any crazy things to hurt Johnny that bad in the fight because I still want to bring Johnny and his family to explore a little bit of Shanghai after the fight." Zhang's career has been strictly business-oriented thus far, especially in recent years. He admittedly hasn't had much of a chance to engage with fans ahead of previous fights because of the amount of time he dedicates to training. The location differences have also created a separation, but with the main event spotlight of a UFC fight week, he's certainly feeling the love in his home country this time around. The speed of Zhang's rise hasn't only been a surprise outside of China, but to the man himself. Before landing this Walker matchup, Zhang retired one-time UFC title challenger Anthony Smith with a first-round stoppage at UFC Kansas City in April. "To be honest, I didn't expect that I can fight names like Anthony Smith, Johnny Walker that soon since I got into UFC," he said. "Because, in my opinion, there are two levels of UFC fighter: Top 15 and the others. If you are not in top 15 yet, you are pretty much nobody. Nobody knows you. So, it really surprised me UFC gave me the opportunity to fight Anthony, then Johnny, to let more and more people know who I am." A speedy trajectory hasn't been the only thing Zhang does fast, as that's just how he fights. Since 2018, the "Mountain Tiger" has exclusively been a first-round fighter, scoring knockouts in 12 of his 16 bouts in that span. The way Zhang fights makes him an easy fighter to get excited for. However, that expectation hasn't lingered in his mind much as time goes on. Don't think a stand-up banger isn't Zhang's preference against an equally exciting Walker, though. "For now, I'm not really proud of that, winning by finishes," Zhang explained. "Back in 2019, there was a period of time I was proud about myself just right after I won the world MMA tournament in Russia. At that moment, I think, 'Ooh, I'm probably the best.' Whatever can I do? Whatever should I need to learn? Then when I get more and more mature, I learned that, 'OK, you should always learn. You can always improve.' That is MMA. So, for now, I'm very happy and very much enjoy that I can stay and work and train with people who are better than me. I can always learn something from somebody. That makes me very satisfied right now. Just always learning, always improving. "If I can choose, of course, I hope we can just fight toe-to-toe on striking [with Walker]. Give all the fans an exciting fight, but if he chooses to shoot on my legs, try to wrestle, try to grapple, I won't be surprised with that. We also have planned to deal with that. So, let's see what he wants. I can fight anywhere he wants and beat him." It's a good time to make a statement at 205 pounds with the division's next title tilt on the horizon in October. The champion Magomed Ankalaev will rematch the man he dethroned, Alex Pereira, with another contender bout that same night between Jiří Procházka and Khalil Rountree. Considering the speed at which Zhang has earned his latest opportunities, he could foresee his shot at UFC gold coming much sooner than anticipated. "If everything goes well, it can be soon," he said of a title shot. "I just want to fight the people I want to fight, then fight for the title, but it can be soon."
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
NBC nearing $600 million deal for MLB's ‘Sunday Night Baseball' package
Major League Baseball is in advanced talks with NBC to ink a three-year rights deal for the network to carry games. The deal would see NBC shell out nearly $200 million annually and would see the network carry MLB games on Sunday nights, the Wall Street Journal reported. MLB games would air on the broadcast network when it isn't carrying 'Sunday Night Football' or NBA games, which it also has the rights to on Sunday nights, while other games would be aired on its streaming service, Peacock, and the network would have some rights to playoff games. NBC Sports is in the market to air MLB's Sunday night games. Gado via Getty Images NBC has a growing array of sports offerings on its streaming service, which includes the NFL, college football, golf, the WNBA, the Olympics and Premier League Soccer. Thursday was a busy day for sports media news as The Athletic also reported that the MLB and ESPN had a framework agreement that would give the Worldwide Leader in Sports the exclusive rights to sell all out-of-market regular season games digitally, along with the in-market games for the five clubs whose local rights are under MLB control. would become part of ESPN's direct-to-consumer offerings as part of the deal, according to the report. The Wall Street Journal also reported that Netflix was close to a deal to stream the Home Run Derby as part of a $35 million-a-year deal that would run through 2028. MLB's boradcast rights are finding new homes. MLB Photos via Getty Images Reports have been flying around Major League Baseball's broadcast rights in recent days Yahoo Sports had reported earlier that Apple TV+ was looking to drop the 'Friday Night Baseball' package it has and that NBC/Peacock would be in line to snag those rights, but The Athletic also reported that Apple was potentially going to pick up an MLB package. With the number of reports surfacing about Major League Baseball's broadcast rights talks, it seems some sort of announcement could be coming soon.
Newsweek
an hour ago
- Newsweek
Simone Biles Drops Major Hint About Her 2028 Olympics Plans
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Decorated gymnast Simone Biles was but just a few moments removed from sharing the podium with Brazil's Rebecca Andrade and USA teammate Jordan Chiles after they placed second, first and third, respectively, in the floor routine at the 2024 Paris Olympics (Chiles has since been stripped of her medal due to a scoring error) before she was asked whether or not she'd compete in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. Biles was noncommittal then, and she's seemingly still noncommittal now regarding her intentions for the next summer Olympics, though it seems the door is at least still open for now. She won gold in three events in Paris — the team, all-around, and vault events — and she took home silver in the floor exercise, bringing her Olympic medal total to 11, including seven golds. Fans have made it clear they want to see Biles compete one final time on the Olympic stage, and she seemed somewhat open to the idea while speaking at the Ready25 Conference in Sydney, Australia on Thursday. "I haven't decided yet; I'm still taking time off mentally and physically before I decide anything," Biles said, via "Never say never because you truly don't know, but I'm taking time off to reset mentally and physically and emotionally because training for an Olympic Games ... it's not just the year before, it's the four years prior." WNBA News: WNBA Punishes Fever's Sophie Cunningham Over Paige Bueckers Comments Simone Biles of the United States performs her routine during the Artistic Gymnastics, Women's Floor Final at the Bercy Arena during the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games on August 5th, 2024 in Paris, France. Simone Biles of the United States performs her routine during the Artistic Gymnastics, Women's Floor Final at the Bercy Arena during the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games on August 5th, 2024 in Paris, France. Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images If Biles did compete in Los Angeles, it wouldn't just be a goodbye tour. The 28-year-old is tied for the second-most Olympic medals among female gymnasts with Czechoslovakia's Vera Caslavska, and she's just two golds away from tying Russia's Larisa Latynina for the most all time (nine), meaning if Biles competed in 2028, she would have a chance to make history. Though she's seemingly got nothing left to prove—her 11 Olympic medals and 30 World Championship medals make her the most-decorated gymnast of all-time—Biles did admit that she will be involved in the 2028 Olympics in some way. "We have to take everything into consideration before I make a final decision because it is a lot of dedication and sacrifices and teamwork because it's not just me involved," Biles added. "If I'm not on the floor, I definitely will be in and around it, and you guys will see me in L.A., but to what capacity I'm not sure. But I'd love to be involved as much as possible." WNBA News: Angel Reese Sends Message to Sky Fans After First Game in 3 Weeks
