Alysa Liu's social media following surges after Winter Olympics gold medal, surpassing Eileen Gu

Move implicit Eileen Gu, there's a caller California-born Chinese-American Winter Olympic golden medalist queen of Instagram. And this 1 represents the red, achromatic and blue. 

Team USA's Alysa Liu reached 5.3 cardinal followers connected Instagram connected Tuesday, conscionable 1 week aft winning the archetypal idiosyncratic Olympic golden medal successful women's fig skating successful 24 years. 

Liu instantly became a planetary sensation and instrumentality favourite among loyal Team USA fans of each backgrounds and beliefs. 

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Gold medalist Alysa Liu of the United States displays her medal aft competing successful the women's escaped skate programme successful fig skating astatine the 2026 Winter Olympics, successful Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026.  (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Prior to the commencement of the Olympics, Liu had little than 300,000 followers connected Instagram. But her show successful the women's last propelled her to worldwide superstardom, arsenic arguably the biggest communicative of this year's full Winter Games. 

Meanwhile, Gu, a skiing prima who competes for Team China contempt being calved and raised successful the U.S., won a golden medal herself and 2 silvers. It brought her full Olympic medal tally to six with 3 golds, making her the astir decorated women's freeskier successful the sport's history. 

However, Gu present sits good beneath Liu successful presumption of Instagram followers with conscionable 3.7 million. Liu is connected gait to perchance treble that number.

Prior to the commencement of the Olympics, Gu had implicit 2.1 cardinal followers, truthful she did spot a bump. But it could not comparison to the meteoric surge for Liu, who is 1 of the astir ascendant figures successful each of sports astatine the moment. 

Even Gu herself got progressive successful the hype implicit Liu. Gu commented connected Liu's station celebrating the golden medal, cheering her on. 

"YESSSSSS," Gu wrote successful the remark section. 

The 2 Chinese-American stars person been relentlessly compared and contrasted connected societal media this Olympics. 

Both athletes are the children of immigrants who came to the U.S. from China. But galore fans and critics person been speedy to constituent retired the opposition betwixt Liu's story, a communicative of American loyalty by an immigrant's child, and Gu, who chose to vie for Team China erstwhile she was 15 years aged contempt surviving successful California.

Arthur Liu raised Alysa and her siblings successful Oakland. Yan Gu raised Eileen conscionable crossed the bay successful San Francisco.

Their paths diverged successful 2019.

The Chinese authorities launched a programme to enlistee foreign-born athletes, chiefly with Chinese heritage, to boost competitiveness, notably for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and soccer, according to The China Project.

Gu and Liu were apical recruiting targets.

Gu traded successful her red, achromatic and bluish for reddish and gold. Just months aft competing successful her archetypal Freestyle Ski World Cup for the U.S. successful January 2019, she competed for China for the archetypal clip successful June of that twelvemonth aft requesting a alteration of federation with the International Ski Federation.

The Lius remained loyal to Team USA.

FBI agent, Alysa Liu, Chinese military (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images, Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images, PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Arthur was reportedly "not unfastened to persuasion" to having Alysa vie for China, according to The Economist.

Liu and her household past recovered themselves successful the crosshairs of China's authorities up of the 2022 Beijing Games amid her father's past and her ain refusal to vie for China.

Before her quality successful the 2022 Beijing games, she and her begetter were the alleged targets of a spying cognition by the Chinese government.

Liu called the acquisition "a small spot freaky and exciting."

"You cognize what I mean? It's truthful … unbelievable. You cognize what I mean like, that's crazy," Liu antecedently told Fox News Digital astatine a roundtable interrogation astatine the USOPC Media Summit successful October.

"Like, ideate uncovering that retired astatine specified a young age, I mean, similar In a weird way, I was like, 'Am I similar successful immoderate prank show?' Like, is this satellite real. Like, I indispensable beryllium immoderate movie character. But, I mean, it was similar it made consciousness to me, you know, from similar everything my dada did backmost successful his activistic days."

Both athletes past competed astatine the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Gu representing China and Liu representing the U.S. 

Gu won 2 golden medals and 1 metallic successful freeskiing and went location to California arsenic a caller planetary household sanction for her success.

Liu finished successful sixth spot successful women's singles fig skating, past went into a impermanent aboriginal retirement, earlier returning to the athletics successful 2024. 

Now, aft a palmy 2026, Liu has emerged arsenic the much fashionable fig among the Western world, particularly among Americans, and peculiarly among conservatives. 

Many high-profile blimpish influencers connected societal media showered Liu successful praising for bringing the historical golden to the U.S., including Megyn Kelly, Clay Travis, Dave Portnoy, and others. 

Gu broke down successful tears aft winning golden successful the women's halfpipe last connected Sunday, revealing that her grandma had died anterior to the competition. 

It concluded an Olympics successful which she had to vie nether the unit of immense planetary scrutiny successful effect to her determination to vie for China 7 years ago.

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Gu was asked if she feels "like a spot of a punching container for a definite strand of American politics." 

"I do," she said, according to USA Today. "So galore athletes vie for a antithetic country. ... People lone person a occupation with maine doing it due to the fact that they benignant of lump China into this monolithic entity, and they conscionable hatred China. So, it's not truly astir what they deliberation it's about.

"And also, due to the fact that I win. Like, if I wasn't doing well, I deliberation that they astir apt wouldn't attraction arsenic much, and that's OK for me. People are entitled to their opinions."  

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