Figure Skater Faces Instant Backlash After Heated On-Air Remarks About the U.S.

The Death of Loyalty: How Eileen Goo’s Defection and Amber Glenn’s “Woke” Meltdown Are Tearing American Figure Skating Apart

In the high-pressure, crystalline world of Olympic figure skating, the sound of a blade hitting the ice is usually synonymous with precision, grace, and national pride. However, during the recent Milan Winter Olympics, that sound was replaced by the cacophony of political scandal, accusations of betrayal, and a fierce debate over the “woke rot” allegedly infecting American sports. At the center of this storm are two athletes whose names have become lightning rods for a nation’s frustration: Eileen Goo and Amber Glenn. Their stories, though different in circumstance, have converged to create a moment of profound embarrassment for Team USA, leaving fans and commentators alike asking: When did representing America become something to be ashamed of?

The Million-Dollar Betrayal: The Case of Eileen Goo

The story of Eileen Goo is, in many ways, the quintessential American dream—until it became a national nightmare. Born in San Francisco and raised in the heart of California, Goo was a product of the very best America had to offer. She was trained in world-class American facilities, benefited from the unparalleled opportunities of the U.S. education and athletic systems, and built a brand based on her Californian “cool.” But when the time came to represent a nation on the Olympic stage, Goo didn’t reach for the Stars and Stripes. She chose the flag of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The decision was a calculated financial windfall. Reports suggest that Goo secured roughly $14 million in endorsement deals from the Beijing Sports Bureau and other Chinese interests. While she cited her grandmother’s heritage as the catalyst for her decision, the optics were impossible to ignore: a girl raised on American freedom was selling her talents to an authoritarian regime responsible for some of the worst human rights abuses on the planet.

The backlash was swift and relentless. Critics, including NBA veteran and human rights activist Enes Kaner Freedom, didn’t mince words. “She is a traitor,” Kaner stated. “She built her fame in a free country and then chose to represent an authoritarian regime while chasing endorsement deals linked to groups involved in mass detention and forced labor camps.” The sentiment was echoed by high-ranking officials in the current administration, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who drew a direct line between Goo’s actions and those of billionaires like George Soros—individuals who benefit from American prosperity while working against its interests.

Tears and Accountability

The tension reached a breaking point during a recent press conference where a visibly shaken Goo arrived late and broke down in tears. She revealed that her grandmother had passed away during the competition—the same woman she had promised to be “brave” for. It was a moment designed for sympathy, but for many Americans, the “wound” felt self-inflicted.

“You don’t get to cash checks from a foreign government, represent their flag on the world stage, and then act wounded when Americans notice the betrayal,” one commentator noted. The narrative pushed by establishment media—of a brave young woman caught between two cultures—rang hollow for those who saw only greed wrapped in the cloak of victimhood. Goo’s insistence that the criticism was rooted in “hatred of China” was dismissed by most as a convenient deflection. People didn’t hate her heritage; they hated the fact that she had auctioned off her loyalty to the highest bidder.

The “Woke” Calamity: Amber Glenn’s Milan Meltdown

If Eileen Goo represented a betrayal of the flag, Amber Glenn represented a betrayal of the sport’s professional standards. Glenn, a self-described “queer pansexual woke bitch,” arrived in Milan with more headlines about her identity than her triple axels. She positioned herself not as an athlete first, but as an activist, making her sexuality and her “oppressed” status in America the centerpiece of her Olympic narrative.

The results on the ice, however, were catastrophic. Glenn finished a dismal 13th in the short program, failing to even come close to the podium. But it wasn’t the performance that sparked the most outrage—it was the excuse that followed.

In a series of interviews with French television and on her personal Instagram, Glenn blamed her underperformance and subsequent public meltdown on her menstrual cycle. “I’m on my period right now… it makes you extra emotional,” she told reporters.

The reaction from women across the globe was one of appalled disbelief. For generations, female pioneers in business, politics, and sports have fought to dismantle the stereotype that women are too “emotional” or “unstable” to handle high-pressure situations. They clawed their way into boardrooms and cockpits by proving that biology is not destiny. And yet, on the world’s biggest athletic stage, Amber Glenn handed that stereotype back on a silver platter.

Setting the Clock Back

“Amber Glenn should have put down the pride flag and just said, ‘I underperformed. No excuses,'” argued one observer. By blaming her period, Glenn didn’t just excuse her own failure; she validated every dismissive comment ever made about women’s capabilities in crisis. The “woke” logic that frames her as a feminist hero for “speaking her truth” about her cycle actually does the opposite—it opens a Pandora’s box where a woman’s professional competence is once again tied to her biological clock.

The contrast within Team USA was stark. While Glenn was making headlines for her excuses, her teammate Alysa Liu was making headlines for her results. Liu stepped onto the ice, said nothing about her identity or her biology, and won the gold medal for her country like a professional. The message was clear: real strength doesn’t need a slogan, and excellence doesn’t need an explanation.

The Larger Rot

The controversies surrounding Goo and Glenn are symptoms of what many are calling the “woke rot” in American athletics. This ideology replaces the pursuit of excellence with the celebration of victimhood. It suggests that identity is more important than ability and that loyalty to a paycheck or a social media trend is more valuable than loyalty to the country that provided the platform in the first place.

When Eileen Goo chooses the bag over the flag, and Amber Glenn chooses an Instagram-worthy excuse over accountability, they undermine the very foundations of competitive sport. They turn the Olympic Games into a therapy session and the American jersey into a prop for personal branding.

America remains the land of opportunity, providing the training, the freedom, and the capital for these athletes to reach the pinnacle of their careers. To see that opportunity used to enrich a rival regime or to validate regressive stereotypes is a bitter pill for many to swallow. As the dust settles on the Milan Olympics, the lesson is clear: national pride isn’t just about winning medals; it’s about the character of the people wearing them. Until Team USA returns to a culture of results over rhetoric and loyalty over lucrative deals, the embarrassment will continue to mount.

The time has come for American athletes to stand tall, stand proud, and remember who they are representing. Anything less isn’t just a disappointment—it’s a betrayal.