American-born Team China Olympic skier Eileen Gu came under immense scrutiny on social media this week after making comments about President Donald Trump’s recent criticism of U.S. Olympian Hunter Hess.

Gu, who was born in San Francisco, is the highest-paid Winter Olympic athlete in the world, making an estimated $23 million in 2025 alone in partnerships with Chinese companies, including the Bank of China, and western companies. Gu has said she represents China for her mother, who was born there.

Gu has never spoken out against China’s alleged human rights abuses, including the nation’s alleged systematic campaign of repression against Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. 

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However, Gu has commented on Trump’s criticism of Hess for expressing “mixed emotions” about representing the U.S. in Milan Cortina. 

“I’m sorry that the headline that is eclipsing the Olympics has to be something so unrelated to the spirit of the Games. It really runs contrary to everything the Olympics should be,” Gu told reporters Monday.

“The whole point of sport is to bring people together. … One of the very few common languages, that of the human body, that of the human spirit, the competitive spirit, the capacity to break not only records, but especially in our sport, literally the human limit. How wonderful is that?”

Gu also claimed she had been “caught in the crossfire” herself. 

“As someone who has got caught in the crossfire before, I feel sorry for the athletes,” Gu said. “I hope that they can ski to their very best.”

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Eileen Gu celebrates winning the gold medal after competing in the Freestyle Skiing Women’s Halfpipe Final during the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games at Genting Snow Park. (Danielle Parhizkaran/USA Today Sports)

Gu’s comments have incited backlash on social media, with many critics pointing out that Gu has never spoken out against China for its alleged human rights violations. 

Former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom blasted Gu in a lengthy X post, calling her a “traitor.”

“Eileen Gu is a traitor. She was born in America, raised in America, lives in America, and chose to compete against her own country for the worst human rights abuser on the planet, China. She built her fame in a free country, then chose to represent an authoritarian regime while cashing in on endorsements linked by watchdog groups to mass detention and forced labor camps. When human rights come up, she disappears,” Kanter wrote. 

“That’s not neutrality. That’s a choice. She chose to play for a country responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of its own people and that is running concentration camps right now, instead of the country where she was born and given opportunity.”

Hudson Institute senior fellow Michael Sobolik also pointed out Gu’s silence on China’s alleged persecution of Uyghurs and the political imprisonment of individuals who oppose Xi Jinping. 

“Listen, it’s fine for athletes to criticize the U.S. president. It also isn’t that interesting because it happens all the time. What’s interesting about this story … is that Eileen Gu is an American skier competing for China. No mention about whether the CCP’s genocide of Uyghurs ‘runs contrary to everything the Olympics should be.’ No criticism of Xi Jinping for the imprisonment of Jimmy Lai, Pastor Ezra Jin, Gulshan Abbas, or China’s many other political prisoners,” Sobolik wrote on X. 

“If you criticize America but won’t say a word about the CCP, that says a lot about you. If you’re an American athlete that leverages the freedom this country has given you to represent an authoritarian regime, that says even more.”

Republican communications specialist Matt Whitlock echoed similar criticism of Gu in an X post.

“Can’t imagine a worse voice on this topic than an athlete who threw away her American citizenship for Chinese Communist Party endorsement deals. Does Eileen Gu have any criticism for Xi Jinping for genocide, slavery, and arresting dissenters?” Whitlock wrote. 

Several other X users spoke out against Gu. 

Trump has been one of the most discussed figures at this year’s Winter Olympics, and several athletes have made suggestive criticisms of his handling of the U.S., including Hess. 

Trump made a scathing post on social media, calling Hess a “real loser.”

“U.S. Olympic Skier, Hunter Hess, a real Loser, says he doesn’t represent his Country in the current Winter Olympics,” he wrote.

“If that’s the case, he shouldn’t have tried out for the Team, and it’s too bad he’s on it. Very hard to root for someone like this. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

Hess originally said of representing the U.S., “It brings up mixed emotions to represent the U.S. right now, I think. It’s a little hard. There’s obviously a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of, and I think a lot of people aren’t.

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China’s Eileen Gu reacts at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. Monday, Feb. 9, 2026.  (David Davies/PA Images via Getty Images)

“I think, for me, it’s more I’m representing my friends and family back home, the people that represented it before me, all the things that I believe are good about the U.S. If it aligns with my moral values, I feel like I’m representing it. Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the U.S.

“I just kind of want to do it for my friends and my family and the people that support me getting here.”

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Sam Darnold’s NFL journey has been nothing short of inspiring. 

The quarterback finally got to hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy with his Seattle Seahawks, his fifth NFL team, Sunday in Santa Clara.

Darnold was the third overall pick out of USC in 2018 to the New York Jets, where he was hoping to take the team out of playoff purgatory and cement himself as one of the greats for “Gang Green.”

Instead, Darnold found himself out of New York after three seasons, traded to the Carolina Panthers and beginning his move from the East Coast to West Coast.

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After battling with Baker Mayfield in Carolina, Darnold eventually landed as Brock Purdy’s backup with the San Francisco 49ers. Then he got another shot at starting in the league with the Minnesota Vikings, leading them to a 14-3 record.

The success Darnold found led to choices in free agency, every player’s dream. He went with the Seahawks, reuniting with offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, and the rest is now history.

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So, as Darnold sat at a Raising Cane’s to celebrate with a “shift” in front of Seahawks fans after the 29-13 victory, Fox News Digital asked him what lesson might be learned from his journey through the league.

“I really think it’s about believing in yourself and taking it one day at a time,” he said over the phone. “I think, if there’s any lesson, it’s that. Continue to be yourself in any situation and always believe in yourself.”

Darnold’s belief led him to this point. And he got a taste of what Wednesday will be like at the parade in Seattle when Seahawks fans flocked to Raising Cane’s to see their Super Bowl-winning quarterback.

“It’s unbelievable, man,” he said. “I mean, the warm welcome I got with fans was just pretty special. To be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it. It’s just unlike anything I’ve seen.

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold throws a pass during the first half of the Super Bowl against the New England Patriots at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

“They’ve shown up for us all season, all the way to the end. So, I’m very thankful to be playing here in Seattle with these fans.”

Fox News Digital spoke with Darnold in March 2025 when he made the decision to join the Seahawks after they had just traded Geno Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders, making the starting quarterback spot open. He said he loved the mutual interest and believed in head coach Mike Macdonald and the group of guys already in the building.

Darnold was simply hoping to fit in and help lead the team to the promised land. Mission accomplished.

“Clearly, I made the right decision,” he said almost one year later. “It’s been a very special ride with this group, with my teammates and the coaching staff that we had this year.

Sam Darnold of the Seattle Seahawks walks on the field after the NFC championship against the Los Angeles Rams Jan. 25, 2026, in Seattle. The Seattle Seahawks won 31-27. (Getty Images)

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“It’s funny, I feel like after the Super Bowl even, we all wanted to play another game. Maybe not physically, but mentally, emotionally, we’re still in it, and we just love playing ball with each other. That’s all you can ask for when you sign up to play this great game.”

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PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Rory McIlroy, a two-time winner of the Players Championship, believes the PGA Tour’s flagship event is one of the best tournaments in the world — just not the fifth major.

While speaking to reporters Tuesday ahead of this week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, McIlroy was asked where The Players stacks up with the other majors (Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and The Open) after he completed the career Grand Slam by capturing a green jacket at the Masters last season.

“Look, I’d love to have seven majors instead of five, that sounds great,” McIlroy said. “I think The Players is one of the best golf tournaments in the world. I don’t think anyone disputes that or argues that. I think from a player perspective, it’s amazing. I think from an on-site fan experience, it’s amazing. It’s an amazing golf course, location, [and] venue.

“But I’m a traditionalist. I’m a historian of the game. We have four major championships. You know, if you want to see what five major championships look like, look at the women’s game. I don’t know how well that’s [gone] for them.”

The LPGA includes five majors on its schedule each season: Chevron Championship, U.S. Women’s Open, Women’s PGA Championship, Amundi Evian Championship and the Women’s Open.

McIlroy believes competing for the four traditional majors is enough for the men’s professional game.

“But it’s The Players — it doesn’t need to be anything else,” said McIlroy, who defeated J.J. Spaun in a three-hole aggregate playoff at last year’s Players. “Like I would say it’s got more of an identity than the PGA Championship does at the minute. So like from an identity standpoint, I think The Players has got it nailed. It is an amazing tournament in its own rite, and I don’t think it being classified [as] a major or not a major makes it any more or any less.”

As for the PGA Championship, McIlroy believes the tournament needs to move back to August as the final major, when it was “glory’s last shot” each season. It’s currently played in May as the season’s second major.

The debate about whether The Players should be considered the fifth major heated up again in recent weeks after the PGA Tour launched a trailer ahead of next month’s event that included the motto, “March is going to be major.”

LIV Golf League captain Phil Mickelson, the 2007 Players Championship winner, pushed back, writing on his X account: “I’ve won it. It’s not.”

The Players has long been considered one of the most difficult tournaments to win because of its deep field — world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is the only back-to-back champion, in 2023 and 2024, in the 51-year history of the event.

Mickelson argued on X that since LIV Golf stars like Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm aren’t allowed to compete in the event, the PGA Tour can no longer make that argument.

“I’m still very proud to have won that tournament twice, as I’m sure all the other champions are,” McIlroy said. “It stands on its own without the label, I guess.”