The answer, when it finally came, landed like a deep breath after weeks of holding it. The International Olympic Committee stepped forward with rare clarity: Team USA will compete in Milan-Cortina. No backroom bans, no quiet exclusions. The Games, they insisted, are not a bargaining chip for angry governments or a prize to be withheld by online mobs. They are bound by the Olympic Charter, not by the volatility of the news cycle.
In Italy, the work never really stopped. Rinks are freezing, jumps are measured, cameras are being tested for the moments the world will replay in slow motion. American athletes, once forced to watch their futures debated by strangers, are back to chasing fractions of seconds and perfect landings. The world may still be divided, but for a few weeks in winter, the starting line will belong to everyone.
