When it comes to the Olympics certain things are no brainers. Don’t ski jump in high heels. Don’t do mixed doubles curling with an ex-spouse. Don’t do a two-man luge with JB Pritzer on top.
I would add, “Don’t trash the nation you’re there to represent.”
Apparently, several members of Team USA don’t have brains.
It started with American skier Hunter Hess who declared at an Olympic press conference that he has “mixed emotions” about representing his country because of ICE. “Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the U.S.”
Fellow skier Chris Lillis also trashed ICE. “I think that as a country we need to focus on respecting everybody’s rights and making sure that we’re treating our citizens as well as anybody with love and respect,” Lillis said.
Gus Kenworthy an American who left Team USA to compete for Great Britain used “urine snow art” to spell out “F— ICE.” On Saturday, he doubled down on his criticism and whined about the heat he’s getting for the vulgar act.
Curler Rich Ruohonen said he’s proud to represent the USA, “But we’d be remiss if we didn’t at least mention what’s going on in Minnesota.”
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Ruohonen is a personal injury lawyer in Minnesota. Good to know if you’re an ICE agent hit by a protester’s SUV.
In fairness, Hess has seen the light … or at least his PR team has. Days after his nay-nay about the USA, Hess has gone all Captain America. Hess posted “I love my country. There is so much that is great about America, but there are always things that could be better. One of the many things that makes this country so amazing is that we have the right and freedom to point that out. … I cannot want to represent Team USA next week when I compete.”
While Hess’s star-spangled 180 is appreciated, the reality remains there’s a time and place for pointing out America’s faults. And the Olympics ain’t it. Especially when sitting in a host country we rescued from Mussolini and Hitler.
Then there’s figure skater Amber Glenn. Glenn also spoke out against United States at a presser in Milan, with the openly bi- and pansexual athlete claiming “It’s been a hard time for the (LGBTQ) community overall in this administration.” (“Hold my non-alcoholic beer,” said athletes from Saudi Arabia.)
Glenn went onto say she wasn’t going to “shut up about politics” during the Games.
“I hope I can use my platform and my voice throughout these Games to try and encourage people to stay strong in these hard times. I know that a lot of people say you’re just an athlete, like, stick to your job, shut up about politics, but politics affect us all.”
So many have already pointed out how unpatriotic these athletes are being. How ungrateful to America and what America means to the world. How disrespectful to the Americans of different political beliefs who they are in Milan to represent. Vice President JD Vance said as much Wednesday.
But I want to say, simply from a competitive point of view: How fundamentally stupid of the athletes!
Their political blabber is wonderful news for their competitors because of what we can call “The Rapinoe Effect.” It reads, “Any athlete or team that trashes the USA while representing the USA is very likely to turn from champ to chump.”
It’s named after soccer great Megan Rapinoe who instantly transformed the mighty national women’s team into also-rans the minute she began mouthing off against America and pushing teammates to take a knee for the National Anthem. The Rapinoe Effect crystalized at the 2023 Women’s World Cup where for the first time in her illustrious career Rapinoe blew a penalty kick, sending Team USA to humiliating defeat.
Already we are seeing the Rapinoe Effect at the Olympics.
On Sunday, Glenn gave such a “disappointing,” “lackluster” performance during the Team Skating competition that she publicly apologized to her teammates. But for a heroic performance by “Quad God” Ilia Malinin, Glenn would have cost Team USA the gold.
Karma? Perhaps. Loss of focus? Definitely. Every minute you are thinking about ICE in Minnesota is a minute you’re not thinking about the ice and snow in Milan.
Mom didn’t get up at 4 A.M to drive you to practice for all those years so you could get to the Olympics and talk about politics. Get on the medal stand, get back on American soil, then get on your soap box.
However, something bigger is at play.
These athletes are giving away the competitive advantage of the collective American spirit. President Donald Trump in his Truth Social post ripping Hess as a “loser,” added, “Very hard to root for someone like this.”
Yes. And that is the root cause of the Rapinoe Effect. When you are representing the USA and you willingly give up the full-hearted backing of half the USA, you are diminishing the power that can propel you to victory. That unseen push that shaves a crucial fraction of a second off your time. The hand that keeps you upright when you otherwise would have fallen.
That Spirit of 1776 strength and swagger that allowed a bunch of college kids in 1980 to take down the most powerful, experienced hockey team ever assembled.
“Do you believe in miracles?” Yes. And I believe in the force that charges such miracles. Simply put: “USA! USA! USA!”
May all our Olympic athletes—starting with Glenn and Hess—come to believe.
We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal.
