The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina, Italy, officially got underway on Friday, February 6. Unfortunately, this time-honored tradition of the world’s best athletes competing against one another has already been marred by a few American athletes.

To be fair, most of the athletes were prompted into speaking by hounding “reporters.” Nevertheless, a handful of them decided to use their platform to display a troubling lack of patriotism.

Freestyle skier Hunter Hess is making his Olympic debut, and he chose to talk about this significant moment by saying, “It brings up mixed emotions to represent the U.S. right now, I think. It’s a little hard. There’s obviously a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of, and I think a lot of people aren’t.” Hess clarified, “If it aligns with my moral values, I feel like I’m representing it. Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the U.S. I just kinda want to do it for my friends and my family and the people who supported me getting here.”

Figure skater Amber Glenn decided that her platform would be best used by talking about how President Donald Trump is “erasing rights” from the LGBTQ cohort. To which I ask: What rights? If Glenn is talking about the right of a gender-confused man to enter a women’s locker room, that’s not a right he is entitled to because it infringes on the already established rights of safety and privacy for women. If she’s referring to the rights of doctors to mutilate little girls who have been manipulated to believe they are boys, that’s also a nonstarter. Doctors are to do no harm, and “gender-affirming care” is active harm. Perhaps Glenn is referring to the slaying of Renee Good, who was a lesbian — only Good was shot because she hit an ICE officer with her vehicle after blocking traffic to agitate and impede the work of immigration agents. Her sexual preference was not a factor in her death whatsoever.

The most hypocritical athlete might be dual citizen and freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy, who competed for the U.S. at the 2014 Sochi Games but has since been competing for the UK. Kenworthy posted a very crude picture with the words “F*** ICE” written in the snow using urine. This is rich considering he is representing a country that, like the U.S., has been overrun by illegal aliens, and where foreigner-run rape gangs operate with impunity, and free speech has become a thing of the past.

It is very troubling that these American athletes have decided the best way to represent their country (or spite it, in Kenworthy’s case) is to bash it. Frankly, we don’t really want to hear what athletes think about politics. It’s not because they can’t have an opinion. Of course they can. But when we are competing against other countries, our internal political differences should take a back seat, and our national interests should be front and center.

Pope Leo XIV issued a warning about turning the Olympics into propaganda, though it was aimed more at world leaders who used the Games to heighten political narratives. What is happening here is the opposite.

The media are actually the main driver of divisiveness. Another perfect example of their manipulation in action is outfits like The Daily Beast and The Washington Post insisting that Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, were booed after appearing on screen when the American athletes entered the arena at the Opening Ceremony. However, others posted videos that seem to disprove this. No one was booing.

Podcaster Brett Cooper pointed out that reporters are trying to push athletes to comment on politics at every major sporting event. Tennis stars at the Australian Open had to shut that down, saying they were there to talk about tennis, not politics, because they didn’t want their words to get twisted and start a media firestorm.

Reporters know what they are doing. On the contrary, many athletes naively believe that their political opinions will change hearts and minds. Their excellent performances may influence young people to try their sport, but their political stances won’t move the needle at all.

And that’s just it. People tune in to the Olympics to see the world’s best exhibit their athletic prowess. The Games are supposed to be about peace and brotherhood. How is bringing up U.S. political divides doing any of these things? Also, how come only the U.S. athletes seem to be having to put up with this nonsense from the media? Reporters aren’t out there asking Iranian athletes about their country’s terrorist regime, or Nigerian athletes about their nation’s Islamic genocide of Christians, or Chinese athletes about their communist government’s concentration camps.

President Trump responded to Hess’s comments, posting, “U.S. Olympic Skier, Hunter Hess, a real Loser, says he doesn’t represent his Country in the current Winter Olympics. If that’s the case, he shouldn’t have tried out for the Team, and it’s too bad he’s on it. Very hard to root for someone like this. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

Hess eventually backed down from his earlier comments. “I love my country,” he clarified. “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 the freedom to point that out. The best part of the Olympics is that it brings people together, and when so many of us are divided we need that more than ever. I cannot wait to represent Team USA … when I compete.”

As a counterpoint to the unpatriotic comments, other athletes are proud to represent the U.S. Downhill skier Breezy Johnson, who won gold for her amazing performance, humbly sang the national anthem as she was able. She was choked up with emotion and pride.

NEW: American skier Breezy Johnson breaks down in tears as the National Anthem plays after she won gold in the women’s downhill.

Johnson won Team USA’s first gold medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Awesome 🇺🇸pic.twitter.com/8SdI3gCFxu

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) February 8, 2026

As Wall Street Journal editor Matthew Hennessey points out, “The Olympics aren’t red versus blue. They’re red, white and blue versus the world.”

So, athletes, don’t fall for the temptation to give hack reporters the time of day. Tell us about the sport you love and be a steward for the next generation. Also, please earn more gold medals and make the Canadians even more sick of hearing our national anthem — particularly in hockey.