The Olympics Controversy That’s Suddenly About America Itself

It is perhaps inevitable that a major global event such as the Olympic Games will become politicized. From the Nazi appropriation of the 1936 Berlin Games to the long Cold War rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union, competition has always taken on what Al Michaels once called a “nationalistic sense.” But at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games happening now, the media have pushed things to a whole new level. Journalists seem intent on turning Olympians into politicians.

The real flashpoint was an interview with Team USA skier Hunter Hess. During a press conference, he was goaded into expressing his personal disagreements with certain Trump administration policies. “Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the U.S.,” he said. President Donald Trump himself shot back, calling Hess a “real loser.” The whole thing has turned into a media circus, distracting from the excellence all Team USA athletes have been pursuing.

To some extent, the media’s agenda here is pretty straightforward; politicization and incendiary headlines drive clicks and social media views. But there is also a real double standard that ought to outrage all Olympics fans and American citizens. Eileen Gu, a freestyle skier born and educated in the United States but competing for the People’s Republic of China, has mostly escaped questions about the Chinese Communist Party’s totalitarian atrocities. NBC, which broadcasts the Olympics in the United States, has even tried making Gu into a star. The Today show did not ask her about the persecution of Jimmy Lai or the genocide of the Uyghur people, even while NBC has covered statements American athletes have made about U.S. immigration policy or social issues.

Read more in the Daily Wire.