Many countries’ governments have entire sports ministries and spend large sums of money to make their Olympians competitive. America takes a different approach, the wisdom of which has become clear over the past few days.
Some American athletes at the Winter Olympic Games have made headlines for political statements, which is nothing new. President Donald Trump, unsurprisingly, criticized skier Hunter Hess this month for a remark he interpreted as critical of his administration.
Trump isn’t shy about using the federal government’s purse strings as leverage against institutions he sees as hostile. Yet there is no risk that Trump will threaten the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee’s funding in a political spat, because the group doesn’t receive any federal money.
Unlike most national Olympic committees around the world, the USOPC is funded entirely through private means. It makes its money by selling media rights, sponsorships and licensing deals. It also receives donations and generates investment income. It generally runs a surplus in even-numbered years when it receives broadcast revenue from the Olympics and a deficit in odd-numbered years when there are no games to air.
In many authoritarian countries, the process of selecting, training and marketing athletes is political from top to bottom. Think the China of today or the Soviet Union of yesterday.
Yet the U.S. remains the most dominant force in the Olympics, even if this year has been somewhat of a disappointment so far.
Across Olympics history, the U.S. has over 1,800 more Olympic medals than the second-place Soviet Union in the all-time tally, a lead that will only grow (and would be even larger were it not for decades of Soviet cheating). Among current countries, the U.S. leads second-place Great Britain by over 2,000 medals.
Keeping the Olympics free of government money prevents government coercion, and U.S. athletes remain dominant. Bravo to the USOPC for remaining independent. Other American organizations and businesses can learn from its example.
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