Ungrateful Immigrant Vs. American Dream: Critical Discourse Analysis of U.S. Popular Press on the Nationality Choices of Eileen Gu and Chloe Kim

Abstract

This study examines U.S. media discourses surrounding two Asian American athletes, Chloe Kim and Eileen Gu, whose similar developmental trajectories yet divergent nationality decisions at the Olympics illuminate how race, ethnicity, nationality, and belonging are constructed and contested. Using Critical Discourse Analysis, we draw on the established–outsider model and Asian Critical Race Theory (AsianCrit) to analyze how media framed Chloe as an embodiment of the American Dream and national pride, while portraying Eileen as an ungrateful traitor alienated in both the U.S. and China. Despite these differences, both athletes were racialized through model minority and perpetual foreigner stereotypes, reflecting the temporal and relational nature of Asian American belonging. The findings reveal that sport operates as a site where U.S. nationalism is both defined and policed, while the White racial frame is reproduced through Asian racialization.