![France Paris 2024 Mascot France Paris 2024 Mascot](http://media.lasvegassun.com/media/img/photos/2022/11/14/AP22318397384852_t653.jpg?214bc4f9d9bd7c08c7d0f6599bb3328710e01e7b)
Christophe Ena / AP
Mascots of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, right, and Paralympics Games, a Phrygian cap, jump during a preview in Saint Denis, outside Paris, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2022. The soft bright red cap, also known as a liberty cap, is an updated version of a conical hat worn in antiquity in places such as Persia, the Balkans, Thrace, Dacia and Phrygia, where the name originates, in modern day Turkey. It later became a symbol of the pursuit of liberty in the French Revolution and is still worn by the figure of Marianne, the national personification of France since that time.
Sunday, July 14, 2024 | 2 a.m.
View more of the Sun's opinion section
As we approach the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, Team USA is getting prepped and ready to compete for our national pride and glory. The composition of the team also reflects the true image of the United States, as they come from all age groups, cities and farms, high schools, colleges and professional leagues. They represent most, if not all, major ethnic and religious groups. Some are naturalized citizens from immigrant families while others were born here.
Some pundits have espoused the “race replacement theory.” Some politicians have claimed that immigrants are “poisoning the blood” of our country. Perhaps they should take a look at their neighbors, schools and professional sports teams, and now their Olympic team, for this is the reality that is America.
This cultural amalgamation from decades of immigration is what truly makes America different from any other country in the world. This diversity is what gives our Olympic teams the unique combination of strength, pride and spirit to excel in the purest form of athletic competition.