On the slopes in Italy, the stars and stripes look the same as ever, stitched onto helmets, jackets, and bibs. What has changed is how some U.S. skiers feel about wearing that flag while Immigration Customs Enforcement carries out aggressive raids back home. They are chasing medals at the Winter Olympics and, at the same time, trying to square that dream with a country locked in a bitter fight over immigration and basic dignity.
Several American athletes are now saying out loud what many have whispered for years: pride in representing America can sit right next to heartbreak and anger over what America is doing. That tension is shaping how they talk about their performances, their families, and even who they believe they are really skiing for.
Mixed emotions in red, white, and blue
Members of USA’s freestyle skiing team have been unusually blunt about how complicated it feels to compete for America while ICE raids dominate headlines. Skiers Chris Lillis and Hunter Hess have spoken about the “mixed emotions” that come with walking into an arena as part of Team USA while knowing that, at the same time, families are being torn apart by federal agents in Minnesota and other states, a contradiction that has turned what should be a pure childhood dream into something heavier and more political than they ever expected. Those comments echo a wider mood among Members of USA who say they still love America but are struggling with what that word means in this moment.
One American freestyle skier put it simply, saying that for him the flag on his chest is less about endorsing every policy coming out of Washington and more about representing his friends and family back home, and all the things he believes are good about the Unit he grew up in. He added that he hopes that when people see him compete, they see those values rather than the latest ICE headline, a distinction that has become harder to maintain as federal agents carry out high profile operations that dominate the news cycle during the Games.
“Just because I’m wearing the flag…”
The most viral line of the week did not come from a victory speech, but from a freestyle skier trying to explain his discomfort. In a clip shared widely from Milano-Cortina, a member of Team USA said, “Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the U.S.,” a sentence that landed like a thesis statement for a generation of athletes who grew up online and are used to separating their personal values from the institutions they work under. That sentiment, captured in a Team USA interview, underlines how the old idea that an Olympian automatically stands in for the entire country no longer fits the reality of a deeply divided United States.
That same tension surfaced again as the 2026 Winter Olympics officially kicked off with Friday’s Opening Ceremony in Milano-Cortina, where 232 athletes are representing the United States in front of a global audience. While the parade of nations in Milano and Cortina looked familiar on television, athletes were already telling reporters that, back home, immigration enforcement and unrest made it “a little hard” to feel uncomplicated pride about representing the country right now. The contrast between the polished spectacle in the stadium and the messy reality described in Winter Olympics coverage is exactly what many of them are trying to navigate in real time.
ICE raids, Minnesota, and the view from the course
For these athletes, the politics are not abstract. Decorated cross-country skier Jessie Diggins, competing in what she has said will be her final race before the 2026 Olympics, wrote about her home state of Minneosta and the way recent ICE tactics have shaken people she knows. Reporting has detailed how ICE tactics, including the nearly cinematic use of stadium scoreboards to flash wanted images and messages, have turned immigration enforcement into a kind of public spectacle that is impossible for athletes to ignore when they see their own communities named on screen at the stadium. That backdrop is part of what Diggins and others are reacting to when they talk about feeling both proud and uneasy heading into the Olympics.
Other skiers have pointed specifically to Minnesota, where federal agents have carried out high profile operations that left immigrant communities rattled just as the Games were starting. One American described being “heartbroken” watching footage of families in Minnesota while he was packing his bags for Italy, saying it felt surreal to be focused on landing a trick in the halfpipe while people he grew up with were worried about knocks on the door. Those stories, gathered in detailed reporting on Skiers Chris Lillis and their teammates, show how the ICE raids are not just a talking point but a lived reality that follows them onto the snow.
Gus Kenworthy and the international backlash
The discomfort is not limited to Americans. British freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy has become a lightning rod after posting an obscene image on Instagram that targeted ICE just hours before arriving in Italy. Officials with his national committee ultimately decided he would not face censure, saying they do not regulate personal social media posts, a decision that effectively endorsed his right to call out U.S. immigration policy even as a guest at the Games. The episode, detailed in coverage of the British star, underlines how ICE has become a global symbol, not just a domestic agency.
Kenworthy did not stop at a single post. Earlier in the week, he shared an Instagram photo with a message directly targeting Immigration Customs Enforcement, using his caption to lay out why he believes the agency’s tactics are incompatible with the values the Olympics are supposed to celebrate. That post, which he framed as part of a broader call for accountability, quickly drew both praise and fury, especially once it was amplified by U.S. outlets that highlighted his criticism of Immigration Customs Enforcement. The fact that one of the most talked about moments of the Games so far is a graphic anti-ICE message from a non-American athlete says a lot about how central the agency has become to the Olympic conversation.
Unrest, Antifa, and what “representing America” means now
All of this is unfolding against a backdrop of broader unrest that has followed the U.S. delegation to Italy. Some Winter Olympians Are Not Entirely Thrilled To Represent the United States Amid Unrest, as Americans at the Winter Olympics have shared conflicted feelings about walking into arenas draped in the flag while protests and crackdowns play out at home. Several have described trying to use their platforms to quietly highlight what is going on in the U.S., even as they insist they are not speaking for every American, a nuance captured in reporting on Some Winter Olympians the country right now.
The politics around ICE have also spilled into the streets. In Minnesota, a Self described Antifa member was arrested amid escalating anti-ICE rhetoric, an incident that unfolded in parallel with tense negotiations over Department of Homeland Security funding and gave critics of the agency a new martyr figure. That arrest, highlighted in coverage of an Antifa supporter, shows how the same ICE raids that haunt athletes’ thoughts are also fueling clashes far from the slopes. For U.S. skiers, all of this adds up to a new definition of what it means to “represent America” at the Olympics: not a simple patriotic performance, but a balancing act between love of country, loyalty to vulnerable communities, and a willingness to say, out loud, that wearing the flag does not mean endorsing everything done in its name.
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