Unbecoming, Undeserving, Unpatriotic

It’s sad to say, but this time around in the Olympics we found ourselves hoping a few members of Team USA would lose. The main reason is simple – several of them have been a complete and total embarrassment to our country and the very last place we wanted to see them is up on a podium. Three examples in this Olympics are Gwen Berry (Hammer Throw), Raven Saunders (Shot Put), and the entire US Women’s soccer team.

It has nothing at all to do with their athletic capability, which strictly by the numbers places them among the best in their sport and got them onto the US team. It has everything to do with their complete lack of perspective and respect for who and what they are representing in the Olympics. In this event they are not a member of their local track club, soccer league, or NBA team, each with their own set of rules and behavioral norms. They are instead members of a single national athletic team, and as such, are bound to honor and display the patriotic fealty that comes with that privilege. Most of the athletes get this, and conduct themselves with respect and dignity making all of us proud Americans. A few, however, see themselves and their message as having a purpose other than the spirit and goals of the team. While they desire to be on the team because of the competition, fame and possible commercial value it brings, they have no desire to be identified with the larger national image of the team and the feelings of patriotism the Games traditionally evokes in the audience. These few should stay home.

The Olympic Games is a world class competition on the same athletic level as the annual World Championship competitions held for individual sports. But the Olympics typically have a much larger viewing audience than any other sporting competition principally because of the extra ceremony and emphasis on pride and patriotism, particularly for the host country. This has always been a big part of the games. It makes people feel good about their country when their best athletes wave the national flag, gush with emotion about their families, and express gratitude for all the support their country has given them.

When an Olympic athlete chooses instead to disrespect their national flag by kneeling or turning away from it, and/or uses the cherished and honored moment on a podium to promote their own personal social cause, it’s ugly. It’s ugly enough that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has rules against this kind of behavior. But beyond breaking those rules and possibly being penalized, it is the inescapable sense of ingratitude to their country and disregard for the dignity of their team that gets conveyed to most viewers.

In two of the three examples mentioned above, there was plenty of advance warning that displays of unpatriotic disaffection were going to occur. The US Women’s soccer team, led by activist-in-chief Megan Rapinoe, had advertised their discontent with their own country long before the games started. They disrespect the flag, the anthem, and voice their grievances in one way or another in every game they play. It was no surprise they would be carrying this disdain with them into the Olympic games. Hammer thrower Gwen Berry telegraphed to everyone what she would do by her repulsive display on the podium in the Olympic trials. She turned her back to the flag during the playing of the National Anthem.¹ Neither Berry nor the Women’s Soccer team should have been given positions on the Olympic team without agreeing first to behave respectfully towards their country for a couple of weeks.  

Like any other citizens of the United States, Team USA athletes have the freedom to behave however they want as long as they don’t break any laws. However, they must follow rules imposed by the US Olympic Committee as well as the International Olympic Committee. Since the US Olympic Committee is a privately managed corporation and not a federal or state agency, they are under no legal obligation to extend the “freedom of speech or expression” concept to anyone in their organization. They can make any restrictive behavioral rule they want. An example is the team uniform. If you want to compete, you must wear it as specified. Otherwise, you don’t compete. The Committee should likewise enforce their own existing rules restricting “expression” on political and social issues and disrespecting the flag or national anthem. They spinelessly chose not to. Ditto for the International Olympic Committee.²

And what exactly is it that these athletes are protesting? In the case of US shot putter Raven Saunders, she says the crossed arms gesture she made on the podium was in reference to “oppressed” people. Claims of oppression have been asserted by different groups of people around the world for thousands of years. We have no doubt that this same nonspecific allegation will continue to be pled by some fraction of the population for the next thousand years. Her plea is meaningless in its lack of specificity, besides being a clear violation of IOC rules. It comes off as protesting simply for the sake of protesting, devoid of any other purpose. Ms. Saunders, like an unfortunate number of young people today, seems to have had her common sense compromised by indoctrination into the “woke” universe where evil can be found in almost every social issue. It is, of course, her choice and she is free to live that way and deal with the consequences. But when she or anyone else uses the platform of the Olympics to project a grievance, it reflects on the entire country she is representing, not just herself. It is not her place as an Olympic athlete to promote a personal belief as if it were held by the entire nation. Her gesture was unequivocally selfish.

The sports audience in the US is sick and tired of these narcissistic and unpatriotic displays. Fans have tuned out, plain and simple. Both the NFL and NBA are now realizing they need to back away a bit from the social justice front lines. The myriad of alternative excuses they have given for their steady decline in revenue over the last 4 years can’t alone explain the steep drop in viewership. The more woke these leagues try to become, the more fans (and revenue) they lose. The same destiny awaits the Olympics. The 2021 summer games is on track to having the lowest viewing audience of any Olympic Games in recent history. A component of that decline is COVID-19, but it is far from the main reason. Much like with the NFL and NBA, if the US Olympic Committee choses to ignore the hugely unpopular effect of politicization brought on by just a small number of selfish athletes, it will be disastrous to the business.

The US Olympic Committee needs to grow a spine and make it clear that political and/or social protest of any sort won’t be tolerated as a condition of being on the team. Any athlete who protests at the Olympic trials should not be placed on the team, regardless of how well they perform athletically. Our bet is that the audience would be much more likely to tune in to an Olympics free from politics and social issues even if some of the top talent won’t participate because they can’t protest.

While good old capitalism will probably play the biggest role in setting this right, it sure would be nice to see the governing bodies for the Olympics take some action of their own to restore the original spirit and tradition of the games.

¹ Gwen Berry ended up finishing far from the podium in 11^th place (out of 12 competitors) in the Olympic hammer throw competition. However, she still managed to protest by raising her fist not once, but twice when entering the Olympic stadium on the night of her event. She left no doubt about the intent of her gesture by telling the media after the event she was representing social injustice and racial injustice.

² The IOC does have unambiguous rules against political or social protests by athletes during the games. They simply chose not to enforce them.