One flag, one team: Why the Olympics must remain above the fray

The 2026 Winter Games are officially underway, offering a rare moment for a divided nation to rally behind a single flag and a common goal of excellence… if only we were allowed to.

The New York Times recently published a piece titled “Americans at the Olympics Can’t Escape the Politics at Home,” a masterclass in the very media-driven circularity that plagues our modern discourse. With a tone of faux concern, activist-journalists are traveling to Italy not to report on the action on the ice or slopes, but to corner 20-year-old athletes with leading questions about federal immigration policy.

It is a tired, cynical script: A reporter asks an athlete a divisive political question, the athlete offers a lukewarm or critical take, and the journalist immediately runs a headline claiming politics is “inevitably encroaching” on the games. Let’s be clear: The politics didn’t “follow” the athletes to Milan; it was packed in the carry-on luggage of the legacy media. By foisting partisan debates onto athletes and then reporting on the resulting “backlash” as an unavoidable phenomenon, the Times and the left-wing media are the primary architects of the division they claim to lament.

While the media deserves the lion’s share of the blame for instigating these distractions, our athletes must also recognize the gravity of the mantle they wear. When a competitor like Hunter Hess or Chris Lillis dons the red, white, and blue, they are not merely private citizens on a ski vacation. They are the beneficiaries of a massive national infrastructure — supported by American donors, fans, and a culture that prizes excellence — designed to give them the chance to be the best in the world.

To stand on the world stage and speak of “mixed emotions” about representing the United States is more than just a PR blunder; it is a fundamental misunderstanding of the Olympic mission. The Olympics are one of the few remaining venues where we are asked to set aside our squabbles and unite under a single banner. When athletes use that platform to signal their personal disapproval of the current administration, they aren’t just “speaking their truth” — they are alienating swaths of the country back home cheering for them and poisoning the reason for this international gem.

The optics of this dissent are particularly damaging on foreign soil. In Italy, American athletes should be our best ambassadors. Instead, the world sees a fractured delegation prodded on by ideologically driven media.

When an athlete says, “Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything going on in the U.S.,” they are effectively telling our international peers that American unity is a facade. It provides ammunition to those who wish to see the United States diminished. If our own champions — the literal symbols of our national vigor — cannot find it in themselves to be proud of their country, why should anyone else respect us?

Contrast these “mixed emotions” with athletes like hockey defenseman Zach Werenski, who correctly noted that his goal is simply to “show well for our country” and block out the noise. Or consider the countless athletes who understand that the “values of inclusivity and kindness” they wish to represent are, in fact, the very foundations of the American experiment — an experiment that allows them the freedom to disagree in the first place.

Gratitude should be the baseline for any Olympian. We live in a nation that allows a kid from Bend, Oregon, to travel the world and zip down a mountain for a chance at international greatness. That is a rare and beautiful privilege.

We do not need to agree with every post on social media or every policy coming out of Washington to be proud of the United States. Patriotism is not a demand for perfection; it is a commitment to the ideal. The Olympics should be a sanctuary from the relentless 24-hour news cycle and the hyper-partisan bickering that defines our era.

Our athletes owe it to the fans, their teammates, and the country to keep the focus on the competition. And the media? They owe it to the public to stop acting as arsonists who then complain about the smoke. It’s time to stop the grandstanding, put the focus back on the gold, and remember that when the anthem plays, we are all on the same team.

Publius Pax is a tenth-generation Bucks Countian, political consultant, and author.