Since the end of the 80’s, the debate on the decline of the United States has consumed a lot of academic attention, produced tens of books, hundreds of seminars, incendiary debates and, ultimately the acceptance that because it is happening, then it is mandatory to Make America Great Again, or so Donald Trump says.
Evidence shows that MAGA is failing. By looking at the performance of U.S. Athletes at the Winter Milano-Cortina Olympics, the U.S. does not look like a sports superpower, since it obtained 33 medals against Norway that won 41. Italy came close with 30 medals, and several so-called middle powers obtained more than 20, including Japan, France, Canada, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Yes, it is true that the U.S. led the medal table at the 2024 Paris Olympics with 126 against China’s 90. Yet China obtained 40 golds, the same amount the American athletes got. So, China seem to have reached the point of excellence required to rival Washington’s successes in Summer Olympics sports.
There is no question that the United States has been successful in the promotion of elite sports with the concurrence of sponsorships and the involvement of the private sector, so that athletes devote themselves exclusively to swimming, jumping, wrestling, baseball, basketball, boxing and other disciplines. In other countries like Mexico, athletes depend mostly of the sponsorship of governmental authorities and although some private actors like the Carlos Slim Foundation may provide financial resources for training and preparation purposes, this is not available to everyone who wants to devote his/her life to sports.
The Milano-Cortina Olympics show the US improved with respect to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, when it was pushed to the third place by Germany which got 27 medals -two more than the Americans- whereas Norway again dominated the event with 37 medals. In fact, the US only led the medal table of a Winter Olympics in 1932. The rest of the time it has been Norway the Winter Olympics superpower, although the Soviet Union prevailed in 1956, 1960, 1964, 1972, 1976, 1980 and 1988, and after the fall of the USSR, Russia dominated the 1994 medal table. Paradoxically those Olympics of 1994 were held in Lillehammer, Norway! In any case Norway is the champion of champions: with 24 participations at the Winter Olympics -same with the US- it has won 406 medals against 330 of the Americans, of which 148 are golds -for the Americans the figure is 114. Russia, with 9 participations has obtained 194 medals.
Russia is missed at the Winter Olympics, since it has been sanctioned for doping and also for the invasion of Ukraine. Sports sanctions may come to an end after the call of FIFA’s Gianni Infantino of allowing Russians to come back to football tournaments. Some sports federations like the ATP give Russians the right to participate, and this is good since tournaments become more attractive with competitive athletes. Just to point at the relevance of Russia in world’s sports take into consideration that Ilia Malinin, the American figure skater superstar and World Champion is the son of two Russian skaters. To exclude Russian athletes from sports competition worldwide makes things a little bit easier for athletes of other countries.
That said, the U.S. Hockey Team scored 2-1 against Canada, making the first time Americans win a gold medal in this discipline since 1980. That was the last competition before the end of the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics and now the attention is on the forthcoming 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics, where the U.S. has led -probably because winter sports are better played by Alpine countries, which explains the success of Norway. China will be the country to watch and of course, the possible return of Russia is anticipated. The International Olympic Committee will make a final decision on Russia’s return next May. The chances are good for having Russia with a full reinstatement of its flag and teams, this despite those who consider the country needs to be punished for the ongoing war against Ukraine, now on its fifth year. Yet, for the forthcoming Paralympics, six Russian and four Belarussian athletes will participate, paving the way for their return at Los Angeles Summer Olympics in 2028. It would be fascinating to watch the performance of Chinese and Russian athletes in 2028, and their performance at the medals table.
Besides Russia and China, it is true that Trump is using sports for its own personal agenda. Trump is the first sitting President to attend the Super Bowl in 2025. One week later he was at the Daytona 500. Then he was at the NCAA wrestling championships in Philadelphia and the UFC cards in Miami and New Jersey. The FIFA Club World Cup final at MetLife Stadium, where he delivered the Cup to Chelsea; the Ryder Cup at Bethpage; a LIV Golf event at his own Doral resort; the US Open men’s final; he was also present at Tigers-Yankees in the Bronx, Lions-Commanders in Landover and the Army-Navy game in Baltimore. Even Gianni Infantino, FIFA’s boss, presented Trump with the FIFA’s Peace Prize in a ceremony that showed he ultimately spends as much time at the Oval Office than at sports events.
Trump is a politician for whom these events flatter his vanity but above all serve his political ambitions in equal measure. Negotiations of all kinds are carried out backstage and financial support for political campaigns is secured from sponsors, companies, representatives of sports organizations and such. Recently, The Guardian explained how Switzerland was able to avoid 39% tariffs from Trump: at the US Open, he was welcomed at the Rolex Suite and once the Swiss tariffs were eased, he got nothing less than a gold Rolex clock later appearing on the Resolute desk. As a businessman, he clearly prefers to deal with multinationals, companies, instead of boring politicians who do not seem to understand how to play Trump. This is a new kind of soft power, fed by the fear of sanctions that so far have intimidated the international community to the point that leaders are willing to fulfill a whole range of Trump’s wishes expecting something in return.
Yet athletes seem to feel uncomfortable with what Trump is doing around the globe. Many athletes have in fact spoken against Trump’s policies and some, during interviews at the Milano-Cortina venues, like US kier Hunter Hess admitted that not because he was wearing the American flag he agrees with everything that is going on in the US. Another way to measure the political climate in the world with respect to the US is the presence of Vice-president J. D. Vance and his wife during the opening ceremony of the Milano-Cortina Olympics. They faced loud boos for a long time while the transmission was broadcasted worldwide.
Is this helping US sports? Are sports Making America Great Again? What would be the legacy of Donald Trump, speaking about sports? This reminds, taking history into account, how Mussolini used the 1934 World Cup to show the world that fascism was successful. Hitler presented the 1936 Berlin Olympics to deliver the message that Germany was modern, advanced and peaceful. Francisco Franco in Spain used the mighty Real Madrid to restore relations with Europe and to avoid political isolation in the 50’s and 60’s.
Will sports, and more concrete the FIFA World Cup this year and the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles serve the interests of Trump, making him look good amidst visa restrictions, ICE arbitrary deportations, tariffs war, and a polarizing and an intimidating narrative? To many his appearances at sports venues are only a distraction from the Epstein scandal that has pointed at several politicians, Trump included. In fact, last December 19, Trump launched a sort of “Hunger-Games” initiative called the “Patriot Games” which would consist of a four-day athletic event featuring the best high school athletes, one young man and one young woman from each state and territory that would take place in the fall of this year. The thing is that these “Patriot Games” were just announced the very same day that the US Justice Department would release the first series of the Epstein files. Time will tell how these various sports initiatives help or do not help Trump. One thing is sure: a way to measure the results will be the forthcoming mid-term elections next November.
Editor’s Note: The above guest column was penned by María Cristina Rosas, a professor and researcher in the faculty of political and social sciences at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City. The column appears in The Rio Grande Guardian International News Service with the permission of the author. Rosas can be reached via email at: mcrosas@prodigy.net.mx
