Moments of unification and commonality during a divisive election year are few and far between, but one of them is happening right now, thousands of miles away.
The 2024 Olympic Summer Games are offering millions of Americans across the country a moment of reflection and plenty of opportunities to cheer on their fellow countrymen and women abroad.
But back home, an increasingly nasty political climate and near-paralyzing polarization have stalled the progression of federal legislation and hopes of cooperation in D.C. and around the country.
Hundreds of fellow Americans are competing in Paris in their respective sports, but can rooting for them to bring home the gold be enough for Americans to finally be on the same side?
Live updates:Team USA medal count
Rallying around the flag
Sports and politics are not that dissimilar, both being made up of different teams, strategies, and, John Mark Hansen, political science professor at the University of Chicago told USA TODAY, degrees of aggression.
Think of polarization like team energy. And America's team energy right now is “extreme”, but also, not anything new, he said.
The political climate across the country has been amplified by the demonization of opponents and increased party loyalty, leaving little room for some to feel hopeful about national pride, Hansen said.
The rare instance of commonality and "rallying around the flag" comes out during times when people feel the nation is under threat.
“It’s the one time where we all root for the same team,” Hansen said.
Excitement and intensity during the Soviet Union rivalry of the late 1900s can be compared to when the planes struck the twin towers on Sept. 11: Rally behind the red, white and blue.
But Hansen calls this a temporary unifying factor, though some are hopeful that this sense of pride and optimism will linger.
Rooting for a better tomorrow
The internet trolls on TikTok will tell you that Justina Sharp, 26, hates America. She has gone viral multiple times for “picking fights over race and politics” she said.
The Los Angeles-based lifestyle influencer told USA TODAY she loves her country, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have her own critiques.
“I think that patriotism means believing that you can be better than you are,” she said.
Sharp wears many hats, cowboy hats included. She received a degree in African American studies and specializes in Black rodeo culture in the West. To her, a better America includes criminal justice reform and equitable healthcare.
“Because I love this country,” she said, “I want it to be better.”
During a time when hate groups are reemerging and political violence is top of mind, Sharp does not want it to be lost that there are some issues that cannot be overlooked.
“Racism is not an opinion,” she said. “Bigotry is not a party affiliation. At the same time, [America] watched [Stephen Nedoroscik] on the pommel horse bring it home and how can you not watch that and be like, ‘yeah!'” she said, “'Maybe we are the best?'”
But celebrating her country’s bronze medal for the men’s gymnastics team does not mean she is blind in her faithfulness to it. As a Black woman, Sharp said she is front and center to everyday struggles that she challenges society and politics to address.
"Obviously there's so many problems," she said. "I am at risk just existing, and for those reasons, I have to demand that our country does better."
To her, these biennial games are the exemplification of what can come from a country working together during trying times.
“The Olympics represent the best that America can be,” Sharp said. “LeBron James flag bearing on that boat did bring us together… For once everyone was saying the same thing, ‘Look, he looks like George Washington’, and to me, that is hopeful.”
Sharp has never missed an opportunity to cast her ballot and said she’s happy to do so for Vice President Kamala Harris this November.
“We could, within a few short months, end up with the first female president of the United States and she could be a Black woman and that’s incredible,” she said. “How can you not think, ‘maybe we can do it, maybe we can get better?'"
Legislator by day, Suni Lee superfan by night
For Minnesota Democratic State Sen. Foung Hawj (pronounced "Her"), Sunisa “Suni” Lee is more than just a two-time Olympic gold medalist, she’s also his constituent, or at least she was.
More:Olympic gymnastics highlights: Simone Biles wins silver, Jordan Chiles bronze on floor
Lee, who now attends Auburn University in Alabama, grew up on the East Side of St. Paul, Minn., which Hawj represents. Since her 2020 Olympic debut, Hawj had saved up to see her compete in Paris. He was able to celebrate alongside her family last week when she won three medals, including gold for the women's all-around final.
"Sports like this bring people together," he told USA TODAY.
In 2020, Lee made history as the first Hmong American Olympian and became an icon for the refugee community.
The Hmong ethnic group has its origins rooted in China and members have been in the U.S. for less than 50 years, with the Twin Cities making up the largest population of Hmong people in the country.
Hawj, a Hmong American himself, and a bipartisan group of legislators helped pass an appropriations bill that made way for the 2024 Olympic gymnastics trials to be held in Minneapolis in June.
Another concept that escapes the bounds of party identity: The American dream, and to Hawj, Lee embodies just that.
A child of Laotian refugees, Lee has persevered through adversity, including an incurable kidney disease that almost stopped her from competing in the Paris games.
Because Lee represents the history of perseverance and sacrifice of his community and has risen to such high levels of stardom, “the world knows who [the Hmong people] are,” Hawj said.
For years, Hawj said, the Hmong people have been uncelebrated and underrepresented, but when Hawj watches Lee compete, he said he thinks one thing: “We made it.”
Steering clear of politics
To 43-year-old Jon Smith, the shifting of Georgia's political climate has left him unsure of how to talk to his neighbors and created hostility amongst family and friends.
The Atlanta resident is surrounded by partisan conversations left and right and said it’s best to steer clear of political conversations at dinner. But it seems everyone is proud to be an American when the Olympics comes on the TV.
“I think our nature is kind of built on competition in this country for better or for worse, a lot of times for worse,” Smith said. “No matter your political affiliation, there’s a deep-down desire for American exceptionalism and nothing really expresses that more than when you’re competing in sports against people from around the world.”
Smith is an independent who hasn’t decided who he will vote for in the election this November. As the host of a podcast that usually focuses on college sports, he’s built a strong following on social media. This summer, he’s more focused on the athletes competing on the world stage in Paris than the presidential race.
“I don’t really talk about politics on my channels, but I do talk about patriotism,” Smith said.
Backlash in Paris
The Olympic games haven’t come without their own controversy.
The opening ceremony prompted backlash among some conservative Christians who claimed the performance on the river Seine depicted and mocked Leonardo Da Vinci’s Last Supper painting. Including drag performers and exaggerated imagery, the show offended many of the Christian faith, but organizers claimed it was an homage to the Greek God Dionysus.
Questions over gender eligibility lingered after Algerian boxer Imane Khelif was disqualified from her 2023 championship matches after they failed tests to confirm her gender as a woman last year.
Anti-trans activists, celebrities, and politicians have berated the women despite the International Olympic Committee confirming Khelif is a cisgender woman.
Thousands of years of tradition cannot evade the lingering of social issue division and election-year politics, but for some, the Olympic games are an occasion to admire athleticism and bask in the triumph of seeing fellow Americans bring medals back home.
“Despite whoever becomes president, whoever has been president, I think there’s a common thread," Smith said.
“If you live in the United States of America, there’s a common bond that you want to see good for this country.”
Rachel Barber, a USA TODAY election reporting fellow, contributed to this reporting.
— Sam Woodward is the Minnesota elections reporting fellow for USA Today. You can reach her atswoodward@gannett.com, on X @woodyreports, or on Threads @samjowoody.
