We’re just days away from the start of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China. More than 200 athletes are representing Team USA in sports like figure skating, hockey, skiing, luge and curling. But along with the excitement, there are also challenges: from political tensions to the pandemic. You’ll hear from three-time Olympian Gordy Sheer, who won a silver medal in luge in 1998. He’s now the director of marketing for USA Luge. He shares what he remembers most about competing in the Olympics and explains what he thinks athletes have been robbed of in 2022. Then, we’ll dive deeper into the potential impact of the U.S. diplomatic boycott with Jules Boykoff. He played soccer for the U-23 Men’s National Team, also known as the Olympic team. He’s now a professor of political science at Pacific University and the author of four books on the Olympics, including “Power Games: A Political History of the Olympics.” We’re talking with him about the politics and critiques of the games you don’t always see in the headlines. This episode is brought to you by Zocdoc.com/newsworthy and Seed.com/newsworthy Get ad-free episodes and support the show by becoming an INSIDER: www.theNewsWorthy.com/insider