If President Donald Trump is unhappy with NFL players' protests now, he had better brace for what he might see on the world's biggest stage — the upcoming Winter Olympics, The New York Times reported.
If the U.S. repeats its 2014 take of 28 medals this February in PyeongChang, South Korea, that's 28 potential opportunities for American athletes to take a stand with their peers in professional leagues in some sort of protest.
The athletes already are thinking about it and discussing with each other, the Times reported.
"As athletes, we have a very unique opportunity to speak up about things that we believe in and to be that voice for people who are not being heard," American figure skater Adam Rippon said.
But first, they have to win a gold medal in order to have their national anthem played, something that happened 9 times in Sochi, Russia, 4 years ago.
"The only time we hear the national anthem is when we win a gold medal. So we have to get to the Olympics, then win a gold medal and then see what kind of social impact we can have there," two-time Olympic bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor said, the Times reported.
Of course, social activism could take a back seat to something more dire if North Korea continues to ratchet up its global threats and missile launches.
Austria and France have said they will not send teams to PyeongChang if the situation and security concerns worsen.
Both the IOC and the USOC continue to downplay any security threat to the games at PyeongChang, a scant 50 miles from the border.
"Despite current political tensions with North Korea, there is no specific information to suggest there are imminent threats to U.S. citizens or facilities in South Korea," USOC president Scott Blackmun said Monday.
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