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Author: Latte

Recently, "Gu Ailing confronts anti-fans head-on" has become a hot search.

She shared her contributions to China and questioned what the haters had done for the country.

All along, Gu Ailing's direct approach to facing doubts has won her a lot of praise, but this time, it seems that it didn't work so well. A lot of comments began to side with what she called "black fans".

Gu Ailing, what on earth happened?

Romance controversy

The trigger for Gu Ailing to be attacked this time was a message she left. Not long ago, in the 200m individual medley final at the Paris Olympics, French athlete Marchand won the gold medal and posted a message on social media to celebrate.

Afterwards, Gu Ailing commented below: "Incredible!" and expressed her congratulations to Marchand. As soon as the news came out, it caused an uproar.

● Gu Ailing left a message on Marchand’s social media platform

There is nothing wrong with congratulating foreign athletes, but the problem is that Marchand behaved extremely impolitely after the game.

At that time, our coach Zhu Zhigen reached out his hand to shake hands with Marchand to express his congratulations, but Marchand blatantly ignored him.

● After winning the championship, Marchand ignored Wang Shun's coach Zhu Zhigen's handshake

That night, the entry "Marshan ignores Zhu Zhigen's handshake" became a hot search.

Although Marchand later explained that it was because he was not paying attention and mistakenly thought that Coach Zhu was helping him lift the rope, which led to the misunderstanding, many compatriots found it difficult to accept this explanation. How inattentive were you?

Not only that, Marchand had previously missed a drug test, and his face was "purple" after the race, which gave him a very bad reputation.

It is somewhat puzzling that Gu Ailing, the pride of the Chinese people, would cheer for such an athlete.

● Marchand's face turned purple after the game

Seeing that the public opinion was getting bigger and bigger, Gu Ailing quickly deleted the comment and tried to calm the situation down.

At that time, some netizens also supported Gu Ailing, saying that there was no controversy about Marchand when he made the comments, but he deleted the comments after the controversy arose. This was a manifestation of Gu Ailing's ability to distinguish right from wrong, and she should be praised.

But soon, these netizens were "slapped in the face" at the speed of light. Because someone immediately broke the news that Gu Ailing was not just commenting on Marchand, she and Marchand were dating, and the two were a couple in love.

They also released photos and videos of the two of them in a nightclub. In the video, the two of them behaved intimately, which was really Incredible!

● Gu Ailing was photographed behaving intimately with Marchand in a nightclub

As soon as the news came out, it caused an uproar. People criticized Gu Ailing for changing her attitude according to the situation. She deleted comments while dating someone. What kind of operation is this?

Her reputation also plummeted, and some netizens even dug up a series of confusing behaviors she had during the Paris Olympics.

For example, they are trying various ways to take advantage of the champion's popularity. Although it is not the Winter Olympics, their appearance rate is extremely high.

When taking photos with Chinese athletes, he is always in the center.

● After winning the 4×100m, Gu Ailing took a photo with the Chinese swimming team. Image source: Gu Ailing's Weibo @青蛙公主爱凌

He interacted frequently with the national players on the intranet, taking photos and leaving messages. But on the Internet, he seemed like a different person, praising foreign athletes and not mentioning Chinese players, and focusing on his "high emotional intelligence".

In addition, some careful netizens discovered that Gu Ailing posted photos with various Chinese athletes on Weibo, but Zheng Qinwen was the only one missing.

What happened? She was clearly watching the match on the spot that day, and according to her habit of taking photos with the champion, this shouldn't have happened.

● Image source: Gu Ailing's Weibo @青蛙公主爱凌

Later, someone did an analysis and found that Zheng Qinwen and Gu Ailing have many similarities, such as:

They all won championships in China's weakest competitions, all speak fluent English, and all have international influence...

In other words, Zheng Qinwen has everything that Gu Ailing has; and unlike Gu Ailing's mixed-race identity, Zheng Qinwen is a real Chinese, and the tennis project she is engaged in has higher commercial value, so she is a strong competitor of Gu Ailing, and Gu Ailing must of course "keep her distance" from her.

The speaker has his own intention and the listener also takes it seriously. As a result of this series of events, Gu Ailing was labeled a "two-faced person" and a "sophisticated egoist", which greatly damaged her image of the "Frog Princess".

Faced with continuous bad reviews, Gu Ailing finally couldn't sit still. On August 21, Gu Ailing posted a message on social media, directly responding to those who scolded her:

"In the past five years, he has represented China in 41 world competitions, won 39 medals for China, recommended three head coaches to the national team, donated freestyle skis, and spoke for China and women in the world. What has Heizi done for the country?"

● Gu Ailing posted a post on the social platform to angrily criticize haters

She reviewed her achievements and contributions since joining the national team.

However, many netizens did not buy into this response, believing it to be a typical case of “people talk about city gate towers, but you talk about hips and elbows.”

There was no response to the controversy, only the medals were mentioned. Moreover, it does not mean that we can ignore the feelings of the Chinese people just because we have achieved good results. There are too many great athletes in China, and we have seen the world.

Besides, this is not the first time that Gu Ailing has been involved in controversy.

Love China or America?

The 2022 Winter Olympics is Gu Ailing's "highlight moment". Her dazzling achievements and confident and optimistic personality make Gu Ailing a "genius girl" in everyone's hearts.

In that half month, she was searched as many as 268 times, second only to the mascot "Bing Dwen Dwen".

Eating leek dumplings, sleeping for ten hours, the expression on her face after making a mistake...any little thing about her can become a topic of media reports.

This non-stop publicity and promotion has caused Gu Ailing's number of fans to soar, with the number of fans increasing by one million per day.

Afterwards, the media focused on her family background and upbringing: her SAT score was close to full, she was admitted to Stanford University, she had a successful mother, and a mysterious father...

With this series of publicity, Gu Ailing soared to fame and became one of the most commercially valuable sports stars in the country.

According to incomplete statistics, Gu Ailing has endorsed about 24 brands so far, with endorsement fees of up to 10 million yuan. Not only that, she has also cooperated with about 23 sponsors, including high-end brands such as Louis Vuitton, Tiffany, IWC, and Victoria's Secret.

● Image source: Gu Ailing's Weibo @青蛙公主爱凌

At that time, you could see Gu Ailing in various activities and fashion blockbusters, which undoubtedly made her earn a lot of money. Sportico (an American sports financial company) counted the list of the world's highest-paid female athletes in 2023, and Gu Ailing ranked third with commercial income of 20 million US dollars.

● Gu Ailing ranks third on the list of the world's highest-paid female athletes in 2023

It can be said that most of these incomes were brought to her by the Chinese market. If she did not have the labels of "Chinese mixed-race" and "Chinese athlete", it would be difficult for Gu Ailing to have her current commercial value. However, it is this "Chinese label" that has caused Gu Ailing to fall into controversy.

Not long after the Winter Olympics ended, the United States announced that Gu Ailing would serve as the U.S. Olympic ambassador. The role of an Olympic ambassador is to help a country promote and publicize overseas. It can be said that this role is the image ambassador of a country.

So, this is equivalent to you first representing China and then immediately representing the United States. This move made netizens go crazy.

after,Everyone noticed that on the question of "love China or love America", Gu Ailing was extremely ambiguous.

For example, when a reporter asked her what country she was from, she replied, "I am Chinese in China and I am American in the United States."

In China, he praised China for all its good points, but in interviews with foreign media, he pointed out China's various "shortcomings." For example, he once said, "There are many great female role models in the United States, but there are none in China."

● Reuters news screenshot

Some netizens also found out that someone said on Instagram that she betrayed the country, and she directly replied: "Which one?"

This series of actions has made the public confused and dissatisfied. Many people admire Gu Ailing, not only because she is sunny and beautiful, but also because she represented China in the Winter Olympics and won countless honors. But now when facing the question of "China or the United States", she is vague, which makes everyone who likes her feel uncomfortable.

"Loyalty is not absolute, it is absolutely disloyal."

China and the United States are competitors in sports, and we are very sensitive to major issues. It is definitely not good for you to "play Tai Chi". When we love you, we are firm, but when you love us, you are shaky. This is a point that many people care about.

The nature of the dispute

Speaking of this, let's discuss the essence of this incident of fighting back against black fans, including the controversies surrounding Gu Ailing?

Hua Xiaomei believes thatThe essence is actually a cultural difference, the difference between Chinese culture and American culture.

The core of the American education that Gu Ailing received since childhood is a sense of rights: I fulfill my duties and obtain my rights, and the rest is my freedom and no one else can interfere.

According to this logic, as a Chinese athlete, what she had to do was to win gold medals for China and fill the gap in freestyle skiing. She had already completed this task and even exceeded expectations.

Apart from that, I am free to decide who I take photos with and who I date. What right do you have to say anything about me?

So when she responded to the haters, Gu Ailing showed off her grades, continuing the same narrative:

I have already completed my mission. What right do you have to criticize me? What have you done? Business performance is justice.

This may be possible in the West, but it is different in China. Chinese athletes not only represent themselves, but also represent China's national image. A gold medal is not just a medal, but also carries the country's honor and national pride.

Therefore, in sports events, our Chinese tradition has always been like this: when there is a team competition, we must first ensure that there are no problems in the team competition, first ensure that the "Chinese team" can stand out, and then the individual. In recent years, many outstanding athletes have resolutely given up their personal honor for the honor of the team. The so-called "winning glory for the country", the country comes first and the glory comes second, which is completely different from the old American "individual heroism".

Therefore, athletes representing China have a strong sense of home and country:

In an interview, Pan Zhanle expressed his pride in defeating the United States; Zhang Yufei insisted on competing despite being ill, and said in tears after winning the bronze medal: I don't want to embarrass my countrymen; after receiving the medal, judo player Ma Zhenzhao pointed to the national flag logo on the chest of his judo uniform with both hands; Zheng Qinwen said after the game that he could continue to fight for the country for another 3 hours.

Their affection for the motherland is beyond words. They have both outstanding professional abilities and a heart for their country and collective. This is the characteristic of Chinese athletes.

● Interview with Pan Zhanle after the Paris Olympics

As for Gu Ailing, her mixed-race identity is her biggest advantage. If she had not represented China because of her Chinese ancestry, she might have been an outstanding ice and snow athlete if she had stayed in the United States, but she would probably not have been as popular as she is in China.

This is related to the national conditions of the two countries. The United States has many strong players in the field of ice and snow sports. If Gu Ailing stayed in her country, she would probably only be one of the "thousands of outstanding athletes" and would not be as dazzling as she is today.

But at the same time, the mixed-race identity is also a huge embarrassment, which makes Gu Ailing sit between the two great countries of China and the United States, one is her blood hometown, and the other is the place where she grew up. From her perspective, it is indeed not easy.

As an athlete, Gu Ailing is undoubtedly excellent, and from the perspective of business layout, she is definitely a smart person.

As the saying goes, sugarcane is not sweet at both ends.

It is extremely difficult to please both sides. If you don't handle it properly, you will be unpopular both inside and outside.

Therefore, the controversy about Gu Ailing is unlikely to disappear and will continue in the future. Fortunately, she is only 21 years old this year and has a long way to go in the future.

For an athlete who competed for China and won 39 medals, we should be more understanding and patient. This is China's confidence and magnanimity.