[Papa John]

My parents escaped in the late 1940s--my mom with her immediate family and my dad by himself--as young people from a country that, at that time, was part of the old Soviet bloc. They both had stays in several different countries before they ended up in the US where they met in college. They left family behind--my mom left aunts, uncles and cousins, while my dad left his brother, parents and grandparents--and they were able to visit--once--in the 1960s before access was shut down again. I was able to finally visit my ancestral homeland a few times in the 1990s, after the fall of the Communist government, of course.

Growing up as an American, I experienced some of the language and culture of my parents' homeland. And I felt an attachment to a place that was run by a horrible government that did horrible things. And so, as much as I truly love the USA, I found myself cheering for that country when it came time to the Olympics. I'm not sure why, but I felt like those athletes represented, to some extent, family that I still had behind the Iron Curtain and, to some extent, me.

Now if I were a world-class athlete, would I have competed on behalf of my ancestral homeland instead of the USA? No. But what if I had been able to visit that country frequently with my parents and connect with family over there? I have to say that I would have felt a "tug" to compete with and for the old world family, in spite of their oppressive government that they did not choose. But I would have competed for the USA.

Maybe there are others on this board who are part of the first generation of their families that are born in the USA who understand the connection that I am describing. Maybe not. In any case, because I can imagine a non-political, non-financial reason why Eileen Gu chose to compete for China, I can compartmentalize cheering for her as a separate process from despising the atrocities of the Chinese regime. And, without meaning to, I found myself cheering for her a bit when I watched her win gold earlier today.

[Papa John]

My parents escaped in the late 1940s--my mom with her immediate family and my dad by himself--as young people from a country that, at that time, was part of the old Soviet bloc. They both had stays in several different countries before they ended up in the US where they met in college. They left family behind--my mom left aunts, uncles and cousins, while my dad left his brother, parents and grandparents--and they were able to visit--once--in the 1960s before access was shut down again. I was able to finally visit my ancestral homeland a few times in the 1990s, after the fall of the Communist government, of course.

Growing up as an American, I experienced some of the language and culture of my parents' homeland. And I felt an attachment to a place that was run by a horrible government that did horrible things. And so, as much as I truly love the USA, I found myself cheering for that country when it came time to the Olympics. I'm not sure why, but I felt like those athletes represented, to some extent, family that I still had behind the Iron Curtain and, to some extent, me.

Now if I were a world-class athlete, would I have competed on behalf of my ancestral homeland instead of the USA? No. But what if I had been able to visit that country frequently with my parents and connect with family over there? I have to say that I would have felt a "tug" to compete with and for the old world family, in spite of their oppressive government that they did not choose. But I would have competed for the USA.

Maybe there are others on this board who are part of the first generation of their families that are born in the USA who understand the connection that I am describing. Maybe not. In any case, because I can imagine a non-political, non-financial reason why Eileen Gu chose to compete for China, I can compartmentalize cheering for her as a separate process from despising the atrocities of the Chinese regime. And, without meaning to, I found myself cheering for her a bit when I watched her win gold earlier today.