The Compromise Olympics

Just days before the world’s best skiers, skaters, and snowboarders descend on northern Italy, the 2026 Winter Olympics have achieved something remarkable: They’ve managed to disappoint almost everyone without enraging anyone. In an age when every major sporting event seems to provoke either a boycott or accusations of sportswashing , Milan Cortina has slipped through the cracks of our outrage machinery.

Just days before the world’s best skiers, skaters, and snowboarders descend on northern Italy, the 2026 Winter Olympics have achieved something remarkable: They’ve managed to disappoint almost everyone without enraging anyone. In an age when every major sporting event seems to provoke either a boycott or accusations of sportswashing, Milan Cortina has slipped through the cracks of our outrage machinery.

Call it the Compromise Olympics.

The numbers tell the story. Five Russian athletes have been approved to compete—not as Russians but as “individual neutral athletes.” They’ll wear no flag, sing no anthem, and won’t march in the opening ceremony. Ukraine has protested that even this is too much, documenting alleged connections between approved athletes and Moscow’s war effort. Russia, meanwhile, treats the whole arrangement as an insult to national pride. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) insists it’s threading the needle perfectly.

Everyone is a little bit angry,