The Iran National Wrestling Team and Team USA wrestling are two of the highest caliber wrestling programs in the world and they frequently defy both their countries (team Iran has more to lose) to advance positive relations and make political statements.

Athletics has always been and will always be political. It would be nice if sports could be apolitical escapism BUT since the days of Ancient Greece, sports, especially the international kind have been political! Whether it is Iroquois and Algonquin tribes using lacrosse instead of traditional war or Colin Kaepernick taking a knee.

Some athletes/former athletes care only for money (looking at you David Beckham) but some like Meagan Rapinoe are political. It is up to the athlete to decide if they wanna be political. Taking the decision out of the hands of an athlete is cowardly!

The following athletes were political:

• Mohammad Ali (Olympic Gold Medalist)
• Tommie Smith and John Carlos (Olympic Gold and Bronze medalists)
• Jesse Owens (Olympic Gold Medalist)
• Jackie Robinson (Broke Baseball color barrier and 6× All-Star (1949–1954) and World Series champion (1955))
• Bill Russel (11× NBA champion (1957, 1959–1966, 1968, 1969) 5× NBA Most Valuable Player (1958, 1961–1963, 1965), 12× NBA All-Star (1958–1969), and Olympic Gold Medalist)
• Kareem Abdul Jabar (6× NBA champion (1971, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988), 2× NBA Finals MVP (1971, 1985), 6× NBA Most Valuable Player (1971, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1980), 19× NBA All-Star (1970–1977, 1979–1989))
• Pat Tillman (quit the NFL to fight in Afghanistan, dude was legit good)

Do I need to go on?