Politics is Spoiling the Olympics

Michael Reagan on Jul 23, 2021

[catoon id="253596"]

Making Sense by Michael Reagan

I don’t know how long I’ll be able to take the Tokyo Olympics.

The Games are barely underway, but I’m already turned off by the annoying political grandstanding.

On Wednesday, our cocky women’s soccer team took a knee just before the start of their match against Sweden. So did the Swedish team and the referee.

Then, as every international soccer fan knows, the Swedes proceeded to crush mighty Team USA, 3-0, ending its 44-game winning streak and making it very hard for our women to win the gold medal everyone predicted they’d win.

Women’s teams from Great Britain, Chile and New Zealand also proved they could be virtuous social justice warriors by taking to their knees before their games started.

I’m not exactly sure what – or who – all these international athletes were protesting.

Here at home, it’s usually racism, discrimination and inequality, all of which exist around the world in varying degrees and all of which we all agree are not good things.

But even without the unwelcome but predictable intrusion of politics, the Olympic Games in Tokyo were not going to be so great to watch.

...continued

swipe to next page