The Olympics came to a rapturous conclusion this weekend when the US men's ice hockey team won the gold medal for the first time since the “Miracle on Ice” in 1980. The win drew mixed reactions after the team was seen celebrating with FBI Director Kash Patel and expressed excitement at being invited to President Donald Trump's State of the Union address on Tuesday. In the call, the president joked that he would be impeached if he didn’t invite the women’s hockey team as well, who also won gold. The men’s team's positive reactions contrasted with several American athletes at the Olympics who have made critical comments about their government.
The Olympics were filled with other controversies, from skier Lindsey Vonn’s crash to a Ukrainian skeleton athlete banned by the International Olympic Committee for a helmet honoring fallen Ukrainian athletes. There were accusations of cheating in ski jumping and the Eileen Gu and Alysa Liu comparisons. Gu is a Chinese American athlete that was praised by many on the left for her composure and accolades and criticized by many on the right for competing under the Chinese flag instead of the American.
While pundits on the left and right were split over Gu and the men’s hockey team, gold medal winning figure skater Alysa Liu saw praise across the spectrum. There was also common ground around the sense of patriotism from supporting American athletes.
Journalist Batya Ungar-Sargon (Lean Right) argued, “The media coverage of the Olympics has been atrocious, dripping with disdain for the patriotism the Olympics exist to fan. Athletes who trashed the U.S. became heroes to the liberal media. Athletes who covered themselves in the American flag were immediately suspect. But nothing beats the way the liberal media has turned on the U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team after they took a phone call from the President.” Adding, “When the Left came out mocking conservatives for praising [figure skater Alysa] Liu, they were telling on themselves, I argued: The Left cannot fathom cheering on an athlete or really anyone who they know conclusively does not share their politics.”
An MS NOW Opinion (Left) read, “To the audible amusement of at least some of the gathered athletes, the president then joked about having to invite the women’s team, too, or risk being impeached. And so, many of us — women who love hockey, women who play hockey and fans of all stripes who support women’s sports — were once again reminded that no matter how dominant a women’s team is, how many millions of fans tune in to watch them or how supportive the men’s players may be both internally and publicly, it’s still apparently acceptable to dismiss them within the safety of the men’s locker room.”
A piece in the New York Post Opinion (Right) said, “Americans beamed with pride on Thursday when Alysa Liu brought home the first Olympic gold medal in women’s figure skating in 24 years. We were also proud for another reason: Liu chose to represent the United States, not China. What a stark contrast with Eileen Gu, who was born in the U.S.A. but chose to represent the communist regime on the world stage. Gu has defended those Olympians who have criticized the United States against rebukes from President Donald Trump — but she won’t say a word about China’s appalling human rights record... Liu, on the other hand, is a proud and patriotic American — proud of her Chinese heritage, but also proud to represent the land of the free.”
A New York Times Opinion (Left) guest writer wrote, “Whenever my wife and I entered Olympic venues, we witnessed unfussy, entirely organic displays of the difference between patriotism and nationalism: thousands of people, all cheering loudly for their countries while recognizing others’ right to cheer equally loudly for theirs…the drive for excellence that the Olympics celebrate — and the courage, triumph and heartbreak of the men and women who compete there — speaks to elements of the human condition that effortlessly cross borders. This desire for shared global experiences defies the nationalist retrenchment on the rise throughout the world”
“The world’s citizens are sending a message: We proudly root for our countries, but we are more than just our countries. And in many cases we are better — much better — than the governments in charge of them,” they concluded.
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