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How Olympians Forgot They’re in Italy to Ski.

The Winter Olympics are underway in Italy, and you know what that means… for the next two weeks, we’ll be forced to endure the political opinions of people whose primary skill set involves sliding downhill in Lycra.

The Games had barely staggered out of the opening ceremony before Team USA skier Hunter Hess decided the world could no longer live without his thoughts on America.

It brings up mixed emotions to represent the US right now, I think. It’s a little hard.

There’s obvious a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of. And I think a lot of people aren’t.

If it aligns with my moral values, I feel like I’m representing it but just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the US.

I just want to do it for my friends, my family and the people who supported me getting here.

If you’re wearing your country’s flag on the world stage, the minimum requirement should be respect for the country that put the flag on your back.

If you don’t like your country, say it on your own time – not while cashing cheques provided by the country you claim is so terrible.

Selective Outrage on the Slopes

Here’s his equally disillusioned teammate:

I feel heartbroken about what’s happening in the United States.

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.

Meanwhile, back on Earth…

The Chinese Communist Party is running concentration camps for Uyghurs.

Iran is slaughtering its own citizens.

Young men are being fed daily into the Ukrainian-Russian meat grinder.

Christians in Nigeria are being butchered by Islamists.

And yet – somehow – immigration enforcement is the great moral horror of our age for these clowns.

I wonder if they needed a passport to get into Italy?

Queer Rights — At Home vs Abroad

Then there was figure skater Amber Glenn:

Its been a hard time for the community overall under this administration. It isn’t the first time we’ve come together and had to fight for our human rights. And now especially, it’s not just affecting the queer community, but many other communities.

Quick question: what human rights have gay people actually lost?

What she means, of course…

… is that the LGBTQ community isn’t being granted extra rights – like men changing in women’s locker rooms or competing in women’s sports while insisting biology is a social construct.

If she believes queer human rights are under threat in America, wait until she finds out how gay people are treated in most of the countries she’s competing against.

She continued:

“I hope I can use my platform and my voice throughout these games to try to encourage people to stay strong in these hard times.”

Please don’t! You’re a figure skater. Just skate.

You were given a platform to jump and spin, not to moan and groan.

But they just don’t get it.

So Woke

Alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin told the world’s media she was at the Olympics to represent inclusivity and diversity:

I’m really hoping to show up and represent my own values. Values of inclusivity, values of diversity and kindness and sharing.

She’s going to represent “diversity” at the Winter Olympics — arguably the whitest sporting event on the planet.

If she’s serious, perhaps she should give up her place to a non-white athlete.

Why do these athletes imagine the Olympics is a therapy session for their personal values?

If you want to represent your values rather than America’s, don’t wear the American flag and don’t turn up on the taxpayer’s dime.

You’re not there to represent diversity and inclusion. You’re there to represent skiing!

Last time I checked, there wasn’t a gold medal on offer for DEI.

Shrinking Audiences

Part of the blame lies with journalists who insist on asking athletes about Donald Trump rather than, say, how fast they can ski.

If this is how Winter Olympians are going to carry on, they shouldn’t be surprised if people tune out.

The TV audience for last weekend’s Grammy Awards, at which singers like Billie Eilish made partisan political speeches, was down by 6.4 percent, with a million fewer viewers than last year and almost three million less than in 2024.

For perspective: in 1984, more than 51 million people watched the Grammys. Last weekend? 14 million.

People want musicians to make music, not lecture them about colonisation.

And sports fans want athletes to play sport, not audition for CNN contributor slots.

Actual Discrimination

By the way, Israel is competing in bobsledding at the Winter Olympics for the first time.

Not bad for a country largely composed of rocks and sand.

Unfortunately, the team’s Milan accommodation was broken into over the weekend.

The athletes had their passports stolen, as well as equipment and thousands of dollars.

Anyone who knows their Olympic history will remember what happened to Jewish athletes in Munich and so realise things in Milan at the weekend could have been far, far worse.

Which rather puts the spoiled brats of Team USA into perspective — or at least it should.

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Republished with thanks to The James Macpherson Report. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.