Steve Stromberg

You're watching the biathlon and suddenly you're an instant expert.

Totally.

All right.

Politics is never far away from the Olympics, but this year has been particularly fraught for American athletes.

Last week, a reporter asked American freestyle skier Hunter Hess about representing the United States.

Now, President Trump responded by calling Hess a real loser, though I guess we'll see when he competes in the halfpipe on Thursday.

Other American athletes have spoken out about the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.

Esau, athletics intersecting with politics is nothing new, as you recently mentioned in a guest essay.

But what, if anything, is new about what you're seeing here?

Kelly, you wrote about the awe of the Olympics.

Have you been awed and have you been able to escape from the constant worry about the state of the world?

Yeah, and you saw the same thing yesterday with Mack Forehand, the men's big air skier.

I mean, he put down some amazing jumps and yet went into silver.

And the first thing he did was they all hugged.

I, for one, am going to be rooting on Hunter Hess in his event on Thursday, and I hope a lot of Americans join me.

All right, wrapping up, the closing ceremony is coming up on Sunday.

When you think about the next Olympics, are you thinking about the 2028 Olympics in LA or the next Winter Olympics in 2030 in France?

And yes, I am hoping to incite a debate about whether the Summer or the Winter Olympics are better.

Please, please, please.

Yes.