Gu Ailing’s success spurs Chinese parents to follow her example with their offspring

BEIJING — How do you raise the next Gu Ailing?

The success of the Chinese-American gold medalist has set the bar sky high for Chinese parents. Many people have even suggested that Gu’s mother write a book on child-raising.

After all, now that the country boasts 346 million winter sports participants, there’s no blueprint for how to produce the next champion.

Gu, known in the Western world as Eileen Gu, won the women’s free ski Big Air event at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics with a final jump she had never attempted before. Her mother thought she should play it safe, but then backed her daughter’s choice to go for it.

According to China Daily, Gu Yan’s parenting is trending on the Sina Weibo social media platform. The hashtags, “Gu Ailing’s mother says she doesn’t need her daughter to go to Stanford” and “The number one tip from Gu Ailing’s mother is to sleep more” have been viewed hundreds of millions of times.

Gu Ailing reportedly sleeps 10 hours a day.

The 18-year-old Olympic champion is also a model and has been accepted into Stanford University.

Asked whether her mother is a “tiger mom” who pushes her, Gu Ailing told China Central Televisions that she is actually a “rabbit mom” who respects her daughter’s decisions while helping her attain her goals.

Li Zhenxi, a retired school principal in Sichuan province, told China Daily that many parents have ambitions for their children to be “perfect” while not reaching such heights themselves.

He added that not every child has the talent, environment or a mother like Gu Yan, who raised her daughter as a single mom. The parents should acknowledge the reality that Gu Ailing is “one in a million” and they should be satisfied with having ordinary and happy children, he said.