Every now and then while watching the Olympics, I have this strange aversion. Not so much to the construct of the games, but there’s always something in myself that can’t get lost in the moment. I can’t merely watch the games and get lost in the novelty of watching every country on Earth compete for three medals and a chance to say that, of the billion people on this planet, these are the most athletic. I recognize the thrill of wanting your country to be the best it can be, and yet there’s some part of me that gets queasy participating in something that isn’t inherently offensive or wrong. In fact, the Olympics are objectively one of the few times that explicit national pride should be encouraged.
Watching Milan Cortina the past two weeks, I felt that same hesitation emerge as I saw the media (notably NBC’s broadcasting) cater to an American sensibility. Again, that isn’t wrong. We have some phenomenal athletes who, from what I can tell, have amazing stories to share. They’ve put in the work to get there, and I genuinely believe those tears of joy came from someplace honest. And still, I find myself battling some inner conflict that probably should be psychoanalyzed one day. Is it some illicit bias to be contrarian, or is there some projection going on that makes me more likely to say, “Good for them!” when any other country wins over the United States?
I suppose on the surface, the answer is simple. Over the past decade, I have grappled with the concept of American Exceptionalism and what that means in my life. What used to be taken for granted is now something I find grotesque and, frankly, overblown. I am that friend who thinks pageantry during the national anthem is a waste of time, that the fireworks and melisma are removing any sincerity. It becomes less about anything “united” and more a selfish gain of seeing who is the most flamboyant, as if being explicit is somehow a sign of love and not just a damn fine presentation. Elsewhere, I think the immodest use of flag imagery can be excessive, where there are factions that use the country’s lore to justify either being really kind or really mean. I understand no place is perfect, and what I’ve described is likely a problem in most areas due to the nature of opinions being diametrical in nature.
I think my aversion to American Exceptionalism, at least as it exists in my mind, comes from what this country symbolized going into this February. On the one hand, we’re about to celebrate 250 years this July, and that’s fantastic. A quarter millennium is quite an achievement. However, I lived through 2025. I’ve had I.C.E. agents within miles of my home kidnapping innocent people while the president calls them heathens. He’s posted A.I. videos dumping sewage onto innocent protestors. In the past month, two people were murdered in Minnesota despite showing no signs of a threat. America is currently in a state of crisis, and one that will ironically be addressed tomorrow night in the State of the Union as the president attempts to call the past year a prosperous period while suggesting Democrats held him back.
We shouldn’t bring politics into sporting events like this. However, it’s hard not to consider that some of these ramifications exist on the fringes. During the opening ceremony, vice president J.D. Vance was thoroughly booed during the parade of nations. Athletes had to come out during press conferences and say that they did not wish to be associated with the opinions coming out of the country at that time. Some faced more severe backlash than others, with one figure skater winning gold to the tune of “what aboutists” suggesting that supporting this woman was somehow an endorsement of the country’s federal platform. Then again, sentiments around the idea of “being woke” are annoying in themselves, so hearing somebody say how they hate to see woke bitches win may be a desirable sentiment, but it makes me realize how annoyingly buzzwordy the current discourse has been, and I resent the whole system.
I’ll ignore how, during those weeks, the Super Bowl brought out an uncomfortable yet predictable level of racism for a halftime performer singing in Spanish, or how events in Minnesota haven’t fully subsided just yet. Even so, we’re talking about a president who made his eulogy to Jesse Jackson all about himself, who has come under scrutiny for unlawful behaviors, and basically raised tariffs by 15%, seemingly only because the Supreme Court rejected his advances.
To put it more clearly, I love Americans more than America right now. It would be disastrous for me to suggest that this country isn’t a bastion of creative freedoms, that takes risks and sometimes ends up with something new and beautiful. I love how the multiracial aspects lead to fusions and force us to engage with others we normally wouldn’t. This is a world of many identities, and I pray that’s what we celebrate in July. Not whatever wrestling match on the White House lawn that I’ve heard rumors about for months now.
Maybe I also think about politics in relation to the Olympics less because of anything that Italy did, but more of what’s on the horizon. We’re officially less than two years away from LA28, which has been one of the most anticipated events in my life. I am currently enrolled for tickets and hope to land something memorable. To me, it could be a chance to tell the world, “This is who we are!” and have it be very distinctly Southern California flavored.
I’m not bothered by that so much as by everything I’ve suggested. We have a president who is taking over the committee despite saying that he hates California every other month. There’s a built-in animosity that more than likely will factor into the games and, because his power surpasses local law enforcement, is likely to embody a more exclusionist ceremony. I worry about bigotry and the overwhelming patriotism that’s closer to gauche drag than breathtaking grandeur. I worry he will give a customary speech and ramble on for 45 minutes about everything but the games’ general view of unity and fair gamesmanship. Who are you kidding… this is the motherfucker who still insists that an election six years ago was rigged and needs to be investigated. He basically won in 2016 while calling the election “rigged.” Part of me irrationally worries that LA28 will either end in mass boycotts or World War III, and it will be all one man’s fault. And I hate that it had to be for our ceremony, the one that I want him least at.
But why do I struggle to appreciate the Olympics isolated from any external text? Maybe it’s the allusion of what’s to come, but it’s also because American Exceptionalism has become a cursed concept. For all the good we do, it’s forgetting one of the factors that made it work. There was diversity, where everyone collaborated and brought new ideas to the table. It was not being afraid to engage internationally in a peaceful manner and build something more sustainable. It’s also maybe why I was critical of Joe Biden’s State of the Unions, where he was the bridge to a new generation of lawmakers while basically doing comedy club crowd work in between his pitch. There wasn’t any momentum for the change to, you know, change. Not when he was laughing at half of the room in a docile manner.
More than anything, American Exceptionalism feels like something that should be put away for a while because it’s simply not true in 2026. If anything, we have the potential to be great by repairing what’s broken, but the reality is that a lot of safeguards have been intentionally dismantled for the sake of greed. I think it especially stings because very soon here it will be 10 years of “Make America Great Again,” and all we’ll have to show for it is division and a lack of trustworthy and unbiased media.
Again, this is not something I should lobby at athletes who worked hard in their respective fields and achieved heights that few ever will. And yet, I find myself often more curious to see what other countries are producing. Something is fascinating about the competition and seeing their genuine reaction to surprise wins. I’m happy when I remember that there’s a world outside the United States and they’re doing things just as impressive as we are. I’m happy for Norway and those ridiculous number of medals.
Though I accept that, maybe, I am contrarian in one way. This is more true of the summer games, but I have found myself disinterested in the “surefire” sports. My official stance is that if a game is too one-sided, it was terrible. I don’t care if the athlete had the best night of their life; I’m not interested in watching Katie Ledecky swim because she’ll always be three laps ahead of second place. I don’t want to see Simone Biles because she’ll always be that locked into perfection. There’s no mystery to perfection, and it bores me to support such an obvious pick. I need mystery, possibly an underdog, to really engage with sports on a deeper level. I say that as a fan of The Las Vegas Aces, who have won three finals appearances and given Aja Wilson that MVP trophy four times. I recognize that I’m capable of loving great teams. However, I think when it comes to the Olympics, it’s harder to swing that way.
The obvious reason is that the Olympics are and are not a monoculture. Yes, they’re all under the same umbrella, but it’s doubtful that anyone with normal everyday schedules is going to be watching every event with close fixation. It’s in moments like this where I have to decide between a or b, and a is often the surefire gold. I’m sure the figure skating was lovely. Facebook keeps telling me that it was. However, would I have watched biathlon or bobsledding if I dedicated those hours to those routines? Probably not. I’m aware I could’ve jumped in at any time, but, in another contrarian bullshit excuse way, that’s not my type because I’m definitely a fan of build-up and think the emotion’s gone if I wasn’t there at least from the opening ceremony.
I’m not sure if any of this fully explains why I struggle to support the United States at the Olympics, but I hope it gives a sense of how complicated my worldview around the games is. Were they fun? Yes. I do love seeing athletes from my home country genuinely try to win, and those below-podium fights can be quite fun. However, I also think it’s just that the moment, like with the monoculture debate, forces you to decide what to root for. This may very well be the only chance I see Kazakhstan win a gold medal. This may be the only time I see dogs running across fields and speedskating land two players within a hundredth of a second of each other. There’s an intensity to that competition that is genuinely more exciting than watching Americans go for the gold... again.
I’m sorry if this seems like a shallow or possibly meaningless post, but I have now gotten to the closing ceremony of at least three games and had that conflicted opinion about NBC so eagerly recounting everything that America did. On a personal level, it’s a great achievement. However, I can’t help but wonder who is bandwagoning this moment and trying to manipulate it into some perverted statement of patriotism. I think of the president posting an A.I. video with the American hockey team, for example. For as much as this moment is about them, it’s important to not get yourself too wrapped up in the bigger picture. These are all athletes who worked hard to get there. Tell me what everybody else has been up to over the past few weeks.
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