The Winter Olympic Games are over, and I am relieved.

Don’t get me wrong — I’m proud my country won 25 medals, and I watched the women’s figure skating competition with the same rapt attention as I always do. But the sense of pride I used to get when seeing my country compete in the most exclusive and selective athletic competitions in the world has now been replaced by a lingering aggravation.

Between the Chad Hedrick and Shani Davis controversies dominating the news and the press’s angst over Sasha Cohen not winning the gold medal, this year’s Olympics reminded me more of a greed-fueled circus act than anything else.

The fact that Davis shunned his team because they didn’t help get him where he is today (and skating with them might have hindered his chances at a gold medal) makes it very clear Davis’s real motivation was personal gain — with no trace of patriotic humility. The public feud between Davis and Hedrick only exacerbated the drama.

We all know this plunge of sportsmanship is really nothing new. Who could forget the Nancy Kerrigan and Tanya Harding scandal in 1994 or the French judge’s malpractice at the last winter games? Even though we can’t seem to expect more from our contestants, watching the media seize upon this glory-hungry mind set with the idea that it somehow sensationalizes the Games just continues to sour the Olympic experience.

In an Associated Press article published in Saturday’s Chicago Tribune, the press claims Cohen “squandered” the gold medal by falling in her routine. All Sports Illustrated could say about Cohen’s silver medal was that it “could give Cohen initiative to continue in 2006.” Shouldn’t the mere chance to compete in a sport at the international level be initiative enough? And when did the second highest internationally esteemed honor in figure skating become a consolation prize?

In the U.S. mission to Italy, United States ambassador Ronald P. Spogli said, “The Olympic spirit will unite athletes, sports enthusiasts and people throughout the globe in one of the world’s great celebrations of humanity and athletics.” That sounds like a great idea, and is probably the reason why the Olympic Games originated in the first place. But I don’t see our teams uniting or our media celebrating our athletic humanity. Instead, contestants are squaring off against members of their own team and the media is grumbling about the U.S. winning a silver medal.

One bit of silver lining in the cloud of our nation’s insatiability is U.S. speed skater Joey Cheek, who, in the true spirit of the Olympics, donated his $30,000 bonus from his gold and silver medals to the humanitarian organization Right to Play. Cheek requested that companies and other individuals follow his lead and donate, and Right to Play grossed $500,000 by the end of the Games.

My wish for the next series of Olympic Games is that more contestants and journalists will follow in the spirit of Cheek. It’s a shame to continue to trivialize an event that is supposed to be honored as a glorious competition in itself.