JILLIAN MICHAELS: Our hockey heroes just gave America the miracle we needed most

Olympic hockey history made as Team USA men and women both defeat Canada 2-1 in overtime thrillers, capturing rare back-to-back gold medals at Winter Olympics.

Jillian Michaels is a health advocate, entrepreneur and bestselling author whose work sits at the intersection of wellness and consumer empowerment. 

For years now, high-profile athletes have been pressured into speaking on behalf of causes — to take the stage as proxies for political movements many aren’t even aware of, much less understand. We’ve lived through endless cycles of controversy over a knee, an anthem, or an opinion on a policy issue most of them weren’t asked about until the pundit class made it a litmus test. Careers have been saddled with expectations to publicly confess national "sins," to don a badge of shame for living in a country that, objectively, remains exceptional in human history.

Yet here we are watching our hockey teams, men and women alike, who didn’t cave to pressure, didn’t posture and preen. They competed. They battled. They represented the United States proudly — without apology.