Does sport transcend politics? Of course not.

If the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, which run until February 22, were only about sports we would be praising the accomplishments of the many Russian athletes taking part. But Russia is not allowed to participate, due to its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

That’s politics, but politics in this case has impacted sport. Which is sad for those athletes who had a chance at Olympic glory dashed by the actions of their government. it isn’t new though.

Politics has intruded on the Olympic Games for decades. The first time I became aware of it was when two American sprinters raised their fists in a Black Power salute as they received their medals in Mexico in 1968. It wouldn’t be the last Games protest.

For the 1976 Summer Olympics held in Montreal, I had tickets to some football (soccer) games that didn’t take place. A number of countries staged a late boycott of the event because New Zealand was allowed to take part.

For most reading this, the idea of anyone being upset with New Zealand seems strange. Back then though, the Kiwi rugby team had angered the world by touring South Africa. At the time South Africa was banned from international competition due to the apartheid policies of its government.

Four years later many nations boycotted the Moscow Olympics to protest the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan. The Soviet Union led its own boycott of the Los Angeles games four years later.

And boycotts are nothing compared to the slaughter of Israeli athletes in Munich in 1972 by the Palestinian terrorist group Black September. Eleven athletes were murdered – but the Games went on.

Sport and politics? They are intertwined.

I think therefore that there was some special emotion as the United States took on Denmark in men’s hockey last Saturday. Given Donald Trump’s threats to forcibly annex Greenland, which is Danish territory, there might have been some extra incentive for the Danish players to try and upset the heavily favored American team. Alas, they didn’t manage it.

Certainly there will be a political undercurrent as Canada and the US meet in the gold medal game for women’s hockey though in that case the rivalry probably transcends politics – those two teams are the only ones to ever play in a gold medal game at the Olympics – the rest of the world hasn’t caught up in terms of talent.

If Canada and the US meet in the men’s gold medal hockey game, that might be a little more political. Last year the two countries best met at the 4 Nations Face off. Three fights in the first nine seconds would indicate that political tensions between teh two countries were spilling over onto the ice.

Fighting is frowned on in international hockey, unlike the NHL There will probably be no fights in the gold medal game if it is close. But if one team has a commanding lead in the third period, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a number of fights break out.

At the Olympic games especially, sports and politics do nothing but mix.