In my last piece I discussed the 2026 Winter Olympics and a couple of takeaways up to that point that I believed taught some valuable life lessons. Being a skier and snowboarder as a kid is what gave me confidence. And that confidence helped me feel better about myself, it helped me improve myself academically, and helped me build better social skills. Winter sports have always drawn me in, and I look forward to following the Winter Olympics every four years. The 2026 edition of the Winter Olympics has now come to a close, and a lot has happened since the last piece I wrote. And with all that activity came a couple more takeaways and life lessons.
Let me start off by saying congratulations to the women's and men's USA hockey teams for winning the gold medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina. It's an incredible accomplishment and an excellent thing for American Olympic sports. But those gold medals didn't come without controversy. Since the men's team achieved their victory in overtime against Canada last weekend, there has been criticism from the public over the fact that Donald Trump mocked the women's team, despite their achievement, and the way the men's team responded to the incident. I wasn't pleased with Trump's joke, nor was I happy about how the men's team responded to it. Since then, some of the members of the men's team have publicly expressed regret over their behavior. They reiterated their support for the women's team, and referred to their reaction to Trump's distasteful joke as a lapse in judgment, which made me feel a little better.
The life lesson here is everyone should be acknowledged, celebrated, and recognized for their achievements regardless of their gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, etc. An accomplishment such as winning an Olympic gold medal should be lauded by our leaders. They shouldn't diminish these achievements by making jokes at a certain group of people's expense. The USA women's hockey team should have gotten the same level of recognition for their accomplishment as the men's team. Unfortunately that didn't happen. Hopefully the next presidential administration sets a better example for this principle.
Now let's talk about Eileen Gu. I didn't know much about her until this year's Olympics, but I'm glad I learned more about her. For those who don't know, she's a twenty-two year old skier born raised in San Francisco. He father is an American guy who has never been publicly identified, and her mother is a Chinese immigrant, former collegiate speed skater, and former ski instructor at Northstar in Lake Tahoe. Eileen discovered her skiing talent at an early age, and after winning two silver medals and one gold medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics, she now has a total of six Olympic medals on her resume. And that's only one of the hats she wears. She also attends Stanford University, and has a pretty thriving modeling career. Despite her success, I've come to understand that Eileen is a pretty polarizing figure in the United States due to her decision to represent China at the Olympics instead of the United States. To me, it seems like the people who criticize her for this decision are getting the wrong message, or they're twisting it into what they want it to be. Eileen has said many times that she hopes to inspire young kids in China and create unity through competitive skiing. Since the conclusion of the Olympics, she has given more interviews on her psychological approach to daily life. She has talked about "rewiring her brain" on a daily basis and how people can control what they think, how they think, and who they are. She was quoted saying "I spend a lot of time in my own head. Yes, I think a lot".
The life lesson here is being in your own head and thinking a lot is a good thing. I feel like I think a lot and spend a lot of time in my own head too. I'm not sure if there's a scientific term for a person who is half introvert half extrovert, but that describes me perfectly. Having alone time to think and reflect on things represents the more introverted side. A lot of people don't like thinking a lot or spending time in their own heads. They don't like silence or being alone. Silence, solitude, and being in one's own head are sometimes associated with anti-social behavior and loneliness. They're viewed as negative things. But they're really not. It's good to spend time alone. It's good to spend time in silence. And it's good to spend time in our own heads reflecting on things and breaking down our thought processes. It's a good reset button for going about our daily lives and it makes us into more successful people. Maybe if more people shared this sentiment, the world would be a better place.
I love Alyssa Liu's story as well. Shout out to her for winning the gold medal for the United States and representing California! Overall, it was a really cool Winter Olympics. I've never written about the Olympics before, but I felt like I should this year because I probably learned more from this year's Winter Olympics than any sporting event I've followed in the past. We'll see what it brings in 2030.
