Harder to master than skiing is how Eileen Gu will navigate the deepening divide between China and the United States

Gu, 18, who was born and raised in San Francisco, decided to represent her mother’s native China in 2019. She was widely known there as a powerful skier and budding supermodel.

She is expected to win three gold medals at the Games. But her most difficult skill may be navigating the deepening divide between the two superpowers, navigating the geopolitical tussles of the Winter Olympics — including diplomatic boycotts, allegations of human rights abuses and heated debates about the future of the world — and then landing safely.

I can do backflips in a u-bend about seven meters high, “Gu said. “It’s not politics. It’s pushing the limits of humanity. It’s connecting people.”

In Switzerland, a middle-aged woman on a snowboard closely followed Gu’s every move, every sprint. She is Gu Ailing’s mother, Gu Yan. Gu Moved to the United States from China 30 years ago and raised Gu as a single mother. She used to be a ski instructor at a resort near Lake Tahoe. Wherever the world took them, she was never far from her daughter.

Standing at the top of the halfpipe, Gu Yan moved rhythmically to follow her daughter’s aerial movements, uttering encouraging words and pumping her fists before sprinting down the hill and back to the top.

Ms. Gu, 58, said she would only talk about her daughter if the New York Times avoided China-related political questions and allowed her to review the story before it was published. The Times rejected her terms and did not interview her on the record.

Ms. Gu and Ms. Gu’s sports agent, Tom Yaps, acknowledged that they were concerned about how The Times report would be interpreted in China.

“She has to be very careful about Chinese media attention in terms of how she comments on US politics and how she comments on US-China relations,” Ma said. “The other difficulty is the US reaction. I don’t think she’s ready to give up everything she has in America.”

Ms. Gu declined to comment on her citizenship status. China does not allow dual citizenship, but there is no official record that she gave up her American citizenship.

In an interview with the South China Morning Post last year, she said: “THE way I look and the way I talk, I am completely American. No one can deny that I am an American. When I go to China, no one can deny that I am Chinese because I am fluent in Chinese, familiar with the culture and fully identified with Chinese identity.

When she declined an interview with The Economist, her US manager, Tom Yaps, told The magazine: “If Gu participates in an article with two paragraphs critical of China and human rights, it will have an impact on her there. It only takes one thing to derail a whole career.”