If you couldn't make the olympic team in the U.S. but you could in another country, would you switch citizenship?

Avocado's Number wrote:

If I were going to switch citizenship, it would have to be for reasons much more important to me than running in the Olympics.

Americans don't have to switch citizenship. The US allows dual citizenship.

HRE wrote:

I'd probably pick the same ones as you but add Germany and for the same reasons. But I'd go anywhere.

Unfortunately, I am too much of a typical American and don't speak any languages other than English. Maybe I'll call up Andorra or Monaco or something. . .

So for those of you who feel it would be unpatriotic, what about the case of a US citizen with real connections to a US possession or territory, like Puerto Rico or Guam - say born there, or parent(s) from there but who grew up in USA. Still unpatriotic? I don't honestly know if I would do it, but I guess I don't really see anything wrong with it. What do others think?

jaguar1 wrote:

I'm 14 seconds away from having the Olympic A standard (and the possibility for dual citizenship, if I wanted to pursue it), and I still say a strong no. There's too much relinquished trying to pursue it. It's more prideful to put on a Team USA singlet.

Yes, but you're not even putting on a Team USA singlet. Isn't competing for another country better than not competing at all?

Depends. I say so because I could definitely foresee myself representing a country besides the US, where I was born and primarily raised, but not just any country. If you've read Benedict Anderson's "Imagined Communities," you'd be well aware of how arbitrary the idea of a country truly is. I would, therefore, see no shame in representing a country that one truly imagines themselves as being a part of. If I grew up in New York City, but spent a lot of my childhood in Holland, and really identified myself more as a Dutchman, I would see no shame in wanting to represent that country.

Blowing.Rock Master wrote:

Avocado's Number wrote:

If I were going to switch citizenship, it would have to be for reasons much more important to me than running in the Olympics.

Americans don't have to switch citizenship. The US allows dual citizenship.

Are you proposing a different question?

Blowing.Rock Master wrote:

Americans don't have to switch citizenship. The US allows dual citizenship.

The premise of the question is that you would be switching citizenship, not taking dual citizenship.

Then it's the premise of the question that's faulty, because you don't have to switch.

If I were already a citizen of two countries, I suppose I could see some reason for choosing to be on the Olympic team with the softer standards, although that choice could have significant adverse consequences for me, and I wouldn't make such a choice lightly. But I'm confident that I wouldn't arrange for a second citizenship just to participate in the Olympic Games (or to call myself an Olympian, or whatever the attraction might be). Such a course strikes me as silly and perhaps even pathetic, and I would probably make certain unfavorable judgments about someone who actually chose such a path to the Games.

den bosch wrote:

Yes, but you're not even putting on a Team USA singlet. Isn't competing for another country better than not competing at all?

I already have, and I could put on another one (World) if I stay here and keep pursuing it. Anyone who's put on the Team USA singlet knows what it means. You feel more pride in the fact that you're representing your country, the USA, and forget about any personal dream. It's really special.

For the person saying the US allows dual citizenship-- that may be true in terms of passport usage, but when it comes to athletics, I believe once you decide to pursue competing for another country, the rules become sticky if you ever want to come back and run ~US Championships, make US teams, etc.. You're giving up a lot, just to represent ~likely a smaller/less competitive country, when you could have been in position to represent the USA. To represent the USA, at level, has much more clout. When I competed wearing the USA singlet, the spectators everywhere were chanting "U-S-A! U-S-A!" It's a big deal to represent the USA-- people really respect us.

Yes.

Re US allowing dual citizenship, yes and no.

The US allows non US citizens to get US citizenship and although they have to "renounce allegiance to foreign princes" or something, you dont have to actually renounce your citizenship to the birth country -- in other words you dont have to return your passport and renounce your previous country's citizenship TO THAT COUNTRY'S GOVERNMENT. HOWEVER you cannot ever travel under the previous country' passport or the US will consider you have renounced your US citizenship. The US does NOT recognize dual citizenship in that sense.

Going the other way, I do not believe that the US allows US citizens to gain citizenship in other countries and keep their US citizenship. Thsi may have changed recently but used to be that if a US citizen got citizenship somewhere else the US would consider the US citizenship renounced.

All of the above was the case in the 80s. Maybe it has changed.

As far as competing for another country, is there a way to do that if youR parent is from that country but you yourself are US born US citizen? Is there a lower bar than your own citizenship to allow you to compete through your parent being a citizen of some other country? Is that governed by each countrys own laws or by some sports governing body?

den bosch wrote:

jaguar1 wrote:

I'm 14 seconds away from having the Olympic A standard (and the possibility for dual citizenship, if I wanted to pursue it), and I still say a strong no. There's too much relinquished trying to pursue it. It's more prideful to put on a Team USA singlet.

Yes, but you're not even putting on a Team USA singlet. Isn't competing for another country better than not competing at all?

That's like cherry picking a road race to guarantee yourself a win. Would you rather be the winner of the Local Yokal 5K, where you had no competition or finish 5th in a national level 5K where the top runner were?

Why don't you just switch sports and try to make the Olympics in something less competitive? Archery, badminton, handball maybe?

From the State Department website

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1753.html

"A U.S. citizen may acquire foreign citizenship by marriage, or a person naturalized as a U.S. citizen may not lose the citizenship of the country of birth.U.S. law does not mention dual nationality or require a person to choose one citizenship or another. Also, a person who is automatically granted another citizenship does not risk losing U.S. citizenship. However, a person who acquires a foreign citizenship by applying for it may lose U.S. citizenship. In order to lose U.S. citizenship, the law requires that the person must apply for the foreign citizenship voluntarily, by free choice, and with the intention to give up U.S. citizenship."

"Dual nationals may also be required by the foreign country to use its passport to enter and leave that country. Use of the foreign passport does not endanger U.S. citizenship."

@Jaguar1 - I now understand your reasoning. Good luck making Worlds.

SS Shaheen and R Ramzi wrote:

I would even change my name, and take some drugs to do it!

Ramzi did change name

jaguar1 wrote:

Blowing.Rock Master wrote:

Would you say that if you were Canadian? How about Australian? Kenyan?

I'm 14 seconds away from having the Olympic A standard (and the possibility for dual citizenship, if I wanted to pursue it), and I still say a strong no. There's too much relinquished trying to pursue it. It's more prideful to put on a Team USA singlet.

14 seconds on what distance...???

if it's for the 100m you are pretty wise not switching allegiance ;)

Jaguar1 wore the US singlet when she ran The Pan American Games Marathon.

Togolese swimmer wrote:

jaguar1 wrote:

I'm 14 seconds away from having the Olympic A standard (and the possibility for dual citizenship, if I wanted to pursue it), and I still say a strong no. There's too much relinquished trying to pursue it. It's more prideful to put on a Team USA singlet.

14 seconds on what distance...???

if it's for the 100m you are pretty wise not switching allegiance ;)

This thought actually crossed my mind when I while in a serious relationship with a girl from a very small country in Europe, a country in which I've never seen any distance runner from (probably all very slow). As a 13:50ish guy, I figured I could be the best runner in their country. I figured if I ever ended up moving there I would try to get citizenship and then represent their country in the Olympics. I believe every country can send one athlete in each event even if they don't meet the standards, right? If I was in even 14:00 shape I would be able to at least make a respectable showing in my prelim heat unless it went out at 13:10 pace or something.

Becky Hammon did not lose US citizenship when she was granted Russian citizenship and competed on the Russian basketball team in the Olys in 2008. In fact, she still plays on the Russian team during the offseason.

I also have 2 passports-not an issue. Becky's citizenship was granted after she was selected for the Russian team. She didn't go knocking on the Kremlin doors asking for it.

Now I do know this, once you compete for a country at the international level you have to sit out for 2 yrs if you want to switch later, so one had better think over their decision before making it. A 2 yr sit out at this point in my career would really screw me so I made the decision with no intent of ever trying to reverse it. Still, no regrets and the experiences are priceless. I have also won 2 NCs in my country, so I try and earn my keep around here;)