March 2024, I wrote a blog called When Sin Disrupted the Olympics. In this piece, I explained the high hopes people had when the Modern Olympics began at the turn of the 20th century.
The expectation was that we were on the precipice of a century of peace and progress that would be symbolized by the laying down of arms and the embrace of international camaraderie at the Olympics every four years. But the cancellation of the 1916, 1940, and 1944 Olympics due to the World Wars, in addition to Hitler’s Olympics in 1936, proved to those paying attention that human nature was still just as sinful as it always had been. Terrorist attacks at the 1968 and 1996 Olympics further emphasized this reality. No matter how wonderful the Olympics are, no human creation can ever transform humanity so fundamentally as to cause us to abandon hatred or war.
But while the Olympics can’t change human nature or abolish conflict, God can certainly use the Olympics to transform individual lives, bring countries together, and inspire awe in those willing to celebrate the extraordinary feats the human body is able to achieve.
When God created Adam, he knew that from his genes would eventually come men like Ilia Malinin with the ability to do a backflip on the ice, land on his skates, then spin four times in the air before landing again. When God made Eve from Adam’s side, he knew that her descendants would eventually include women like Mikaela Shiffrin with the ability to ski a half-mile down a mountain, weaving between 60 gates, in under two minutes. It’s enough to make one marvel at the superb design of the human body and the enormous potential of the human spirit.
In addition to inspiring wonder, Olympic athletes also engender patriotism. When I watch the Olympic Games every two years, I feel like it’s the 4th of July for two weeks straight. American exceptionalism is on full display, but so is the underrated athleticism of less prominent nations. It’s a time for nationalists and globalists alike to simultaneously take pride in their country and come together with the rest of the world. The 2026 Olympics saw the United States win 12 gold medals: more than any Winter Olympics in history. America’s gold medalists included world-class skiiers Alex Ferreira and Breezy Johnson, veteran bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor, and speed skating phenom Jordan Stolz.
Team USA won the figure skating gold as well, with all 7 skaters performing feats that seemed to defy physics. One figure skater I was particularly inspired by was Alysa Liu, who won 2 golds and chose to represent the US despite the Chinese Communist Party offering to pay her millions of dollars to skate for them. Her father survived the Tiananmen Square Massacre of 1989, defected to the US, and was spied on by the CCP for years afterwards; so taking China’s blood money was never an option for Liu, who has since established herself as an American treasure.
And then of course there is hockey. Both the men’s and women’s teams defeated Team Canada to win gold. America had not won the gold in men’s hockey since the 1980 Miracle on Ice. This was an iconic moment in sports history, as the US was in the midst of our “malaise,” with American hostages being held in Iran, the economy in shambles, and the Soviets advancing past us in the Cold War. At the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics, the US hockey team defeated the elite Soviet team: a group thought to be unbeatable. Two days later, Team USA won the gold against Finland, giving the country something to be patriotic about for the first time in what seemed like ages. The 2026 men’s hockey team recaptured the grit and national pride of the legendary 1980 Miracle team. Team USA went 6-0 in the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics, defeating Latvia, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, and Slovakia to advance to the gold medal match against Canada. In this thriller, American goalie Connor Hellebuyck blocked 41 out of 42 shots, then Jack Hughes (whose front teeth got knocked out by the Canadians mid-game) scored the winning goal in overtime. After the game, Hughes said, “I love the USA… I’m lucky I’m from the best country in the world… I’m so proud to be American.”
The United States is an exceptional country. Since the media only reports on stories that make America seem to be in a constant state of crisis, sometimes it takes an event like the Olympics and people like Jack Hughes to remind us how blessed we are to live in this incredible republic. America is far from perfect, but she sure is great. And the 340 million of us to call this land home are the freest and luckiest people on earth.
Jonathan Kettler is a history teacher at Brandon High School.
