Politics. Politics are everywhere.

Move over Taylor and Kanye! Two new (old) heads are in town. Between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, I think America may officially have its top two biggest celebrities covered. Is it the contradicting platforms? The first woman candidate? The overall controversy? No one can quite pin down why, but the 2016 presidential election is gaining more attention than nearly any before. Almost to a fault. The political scene is taking over the public conversation. It is both tearing the nation apart and leaving its people is utter confusion. Hell, people have even joked that they are going to move out of the country based on the result of the election.

Terror revolving around social movements is sweeping the nation as well: the shootings in Orlando centering around the LGBT community, the hundreds of deaths and casualties surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement, and the numerous shootings and deaths of police officers across the country are just a few of the many instances at hand. Some may say we are in a dark time.

At this very moment, America is in need of a distraction from all of this tension and negativity. The 2016 Olympics in Rio could not have come at a better time.

Despite the fact that nations are competing against one another, the Olympic Games are notorious for bringing the world together. Athletes from each country gather together to compete on behalf of their homeland, while the rest of the globe sits to watch the events in which their representatives are participating. This friendly competition has always had the ability to give the world a break from the “real-world” issues it faced. On a more recent and local level, The Olympics has achieved the nearly impossible task of relieving America of all of the real-world garbage it is currently wrapped up in.

It’s not all about winning the gold medals in the games, though. I mean, it doesn’t hurt that our athletes are completely amazing! (Seriously, can we please take a minute to appreciate how incredible these men and women are?) But that’s exactly what brings this country together! We spend day after day, night after night rallying around our team. USA chants fill Maracana Stadium, and suddenly, are now filling our conversations. Rather than the bickering of political discussion intruding in every spare moment of silence, we are finally occupying those moments with praise and excitement over the success of our nation in the international games.

Part of this is a testament to how wonderful America is. Our training facilities are phenomenal and the coaching staff and support is like none other. Our country has produced some of the best athletes in the entire world, as is evident by the 50 medals so far, and counting! On top of that, many of these athletes are not getting paid as professionals, but rather have to pay their way to the opportunity of a lifetime. These young men and women put school, work and family on hold to compete for a country they are so proud to represent, and give us, their fellow citizens, something to root for.

For 10 days and 11 nights, we have the distinct pleasure to watch the American people give their all and make us proud. We sit on the edge of our seats waiting for Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky to hit the wall. We hold our breath watching Simone Biles and Aly Raisman land their floor routines. We jump up off of our couches as Carly Lloyd scores the first Olympic goal for US Women’s Soccer and Hope Solo makes a killer save to win the game.

And for a minute, we forget all of the negativity.

We forget the violence. We forget the controversy. We are focused on the good in our nation rather than the bad.

Nothing beats watching American athletes stand on the podium after winning gold and crying as they hear, and sing along to, our National Anthem. They stare up at the flag and smile with utter awe and patriotism. Never have we seen people so proud to be a part of this nation. We watch the athlete stories and become even more invested. It’s hard not to feel the passion and love for the nation when learning about regular American citizens and their path toward becoming local celebrities.

We are constantly separating ourselves from others and creating competition. There are competing sports teams, opposing political parties, and race and gender issues facing us.

Rather than allowing those divisions to separate us, we rally together to root for our people to set records, break down barriers, and bring home gold. We are proud to be American. We are proud of our athletes, and we are proud of the medals they bring home to us. And for just 11 days, we are proud to all be on one team.

So congratulations, Rio Olympic Games, you officially deserve a gold medal for bringing together a nation that needs a whole lot of love.