OPINION:
Lindsey Vonn, whose name is known within the sports world for Olympic gold medal skiing and without, for dating Tiger Woods, took some serious potshots at the president en route to this February’s winter games in Pyeongchang.
And in so doing, she pretty much slammed the country that elected Donald Trump — the country she’s supposed to be representing in the Olympics.
Vonn’s currently in Switzerland, where she was asked what it meant to her to compete for the United States and serve as a member of America’s ski team.
Her answer?
“Well I hope to represent the people of the United States, not the president,” she said, CNN reported.
Here’s what that means: Vonn dislikes Trump — so rather than take the diplomatic tack and, for instance, stay silent on her personal views, she’s going to use her position to slam the president.
This is not the proper path for an American Olympian to walk.
“I take the Olympics very seriously and what they mean and what they represent, what walking under our flag means in the opening ceremony,” Vonn went on.
Well, not really — not by thinking that serving as a member of the U.S. Olympic team bestows a right to pick and choose which Americans to represent during competition.
Listen up, Lindsey: It’s all or nothing.
Serving in the Olympics is not a pick-and-choose moment. It’s not a time to decide which Americans to represent, which to omit — which are not worthy.
Either America’s Olympians are on the side of America — all of America, all Americans — or they’re not.
This is the history of the Olympics, the greatness of the Olympics — the ability of countries to move past politics, lay aside personal views and compete against each other. It doesn’t always happen. But it’s to be strived for nevertheless.
Vonn, apparently, can’t even move past her own pettiness to represent America in entirety.
“I want to represent our country well,” she claimed. “I don’t think that there are a lot of people currently in our government that do that.”
How galling.
Vonn forgets her position.
She serves as a representative of America — not as a representative of herself. And that America includes the president of the United States. If she wants to put politics above service, personal agenda above athletic competition, petty disgruntlements above concern for country and fans, there’s a place for that, and it ain’t the Olympics. It’s the NFL. Surely in that venue there’s room on the sideline for another kneeler.
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