Good-natured sports and competition were something to relish. Sadly, the Olympics suffered from something it couldn’t help. It was a highly watched and publicized event, and for the modern-day left that means it’s a platform.

Like the awkward person at the dinner party who drank too much and blurts out inappropriate and absurd things, the left and its media began using the Olympics to make statements.

First, the International Olympic Committee began addressing the transgender athlete issue in 2016 by proclaiming that men were, in fact, women if they just said they were. It was a ludicrous conclusion to come to, especially given the years of data and proof that men compete on a whole different level than women do.

That same year, the Brazil opening ceremony got political with a demonstration about sea levels rising around the world if we don’t address climate change.

Two years later, the 2018 Winter had the media ablaze because Gus Kenworthy and Adam Rippon, two gay athletes, wanted you to know they’re here, they’re queer, and Vice-President Mike Pence better get used to it. To be clear, Pence never said anything negative about the two men and only ever cheered them on. Still, it didn’t stop them from posting about how Pence should eat his heart out. They even rejected the visit to the White House and proclaimed they’d hold their own event.

Fast forward to today and we’ve got Gwen Berry turning away from our flag and ignoring the national anthem because she’s an “activist athlete” according to her t-shirt. We’ve also got Megan Rapinoe being Megan Rapinoe which is par for the course for her, boring and eye-roll worthy for the rest of us.

The Olympics has become one more MSNBC show and I’m over it, which is sad because so many athletes are there to purely compete. They’re being overshadowed by people who want to focus less on their athletic ability and more on their politics, which is far from the reason they’re there in the first place.

And that’s very sad when you think about it. Imagine working your entire life to perfect your game in a certain sport. You’ve trained longer, harder, and shed more sweat, tears, and even blood in the pursuit of being the best. You’ve sacrificed personal relationships and a solid chunk of your young life to fly off under the flag of your country to defeat the best of other countries.

Through determination and pure skill developed by countless hours of practice, you win the gold. It’s the proudest moment of your life.

And no one wants to talk about it. They’re too busy focusing on the “message” that an athlete that traveled to the states with you wanted to impart at a time when it was the least appropriate. When people look back on your year in the Olympics, they’ll remember that person, not your victory over the best the world has to offer.

The people who push politics ruin it for everyone and they do so with their conscience fully in agreement because they really believe they’re doing something good. They’re not. It’s not just selfish, it’s misguided and only deepens the issues they proclaim to fight against.

Case in point, after all the “activism” we experienced last year in the name of racial justice, more Americans consider us to be far more divided as a nation racially than united.

It’s a sad state of affairs, and until this level of demagoguery finds the door, we’re going to continue to see great moments be relegated to the shadows by people too ridiculous to know any better.