In today’s Wall Street Journal, the editors note (subscription required) that we care more about individual athletes than the US team:

Today, without a common political foe to concentrate our patriotism, personalities have come to dominate broadcasts. This is an explanation, not a complaint; no one’s hankering for those Cold War tensions of yore.

I think this direction should be encouraged. Rather than the Greek and modern version of national teams competing in sports instead of war, it should transcend nationalities. “Like the NBA,” an Olympic basketball team should have athletes from many countries. Relays and other team sports should be composed of Star-Trek style international members.

A good way to bleed the power out of nationalism is to attack its very definition as mobile citizenship and superstates like the EU have done.