Sina Weibo, the massive social network that is similar to Twitter, found its servers temporarily overloaded, according to Chinese media.
“Dad was Harvard, Mom was Peking University, Stanford, Grandmother was an athlete.
It was a stark contrast to the reception received by another U.S.-born athlete competing for China, figure skater Zhu Yi, who a few days prior came under attack on social media after she crashed into a wall during the team event.
She beat out two other skaters for the last spot on the Chinese team, which many fans felt should have gone to another young skater, Chen Hongyi, who had more competitive experience.
As online criticism of Zhu crested, Gu came to the defense of her teammate.
Although Gu’s decision to compete for China has gotten outsized attention, what she and Zhu are doing is fairly common in the international sporting arena.