My official list of rules for what country an Olympic athlete can represent (add your own!)

6. You can only compete for one country in the Olympics over your career/lifetime(no switching teams)

Yes! Excellent list! Especially #3 & 6.

I think you need to make sure that your rules don't conflict with rule 0: There is always a country for which you are eligible to compete.

Rules 2 and 3 combined can make it impossible for you to compete.

Number 6 can be waived if said country has conquered your nation in a war. (For example, a former French Olympian could have competed for Germany in the 1944 Olympics were it not cancelled)

The rules should be you can represent a country if number 1 you have genuine ancestry to the country aka parent or grand-parents or you have been naturalized by marriage, residence, armed forces ect. Its that simple. If you are american and your mum is from panama then you have every right to represent panama why does this make you guys so angry. I understand africans suddenly being bahrani or qatari but if you have ancestry of a nation you have a right to compete for them.

DontFeedTheTroll wrote:

I think you need to make sure that your rules don't conflict with rule 0: There is always a country for which you are eligible to compete.

Rules 2 and 3 combined can make it impossible for you to compete.

Rule 7: if you are ineligible to compete for any country due to these rules, you may be allowed to compete as an unaffiliated competitor should you hold a top 10 in the world standing in the event.

What's the purpose of 3? Suppose someone moves to the US at 15. They are adopted by an American family, attend high school and college here. After college they marry an American and have American kids. Yet they would have to wait until they are 30 to compete for the US. That doesn't quite seem fair.

This post is garbage you are either a troll or really stupid or you a teen who knows nothing about anything

heavy roller wrote:

What's the purpose of 3? Suppose someone moves to the US at 15. They are adopted by an American family, attend high school and college here. After college they marry an American and have American kids. Yet they would have to wait until they are 30 to compete for the US. That doesn't quite seem fair.

See rule 7.

Samuel Mahele Akili wrote:

This post is garbage you are either a troll or really stupid or you a teen who knows nothing about anything

No I am someone that gets triggered seeing a Swiss skiers competing for Trinidad in the winter Olympics or people that have never lived in Jamaica competing for their distance team and still enjoying us citizenship. Ireland athletes are a joke too(has way too many people hopping over there claiming Irish citizenship to have an easier shot at making a team). Too many ridiculous examples to list out over the past decade.

Samuel Mahele Akili wrote:

The rules should be you can represent a country if number 1 you have genuine ancestry to the country aka parent or grand-parents or you have been naturalized by marriage, residence, armed forces ect. Its that simple. If you are american and your mum is from panama then you have every right to represent panama why does this make you guys so angry. I understand africans suddenly being bahrani or qatari but if you have ancestry of a nation you have a right to compete for them.

Grandparents? You are ok with this?

My grandmother was Czech, I would feel ridiculous competing for a country my parents weren't even born in....

You may not agree with his proposed rules, but why jump to name calling?

It is an intriguing topic that people can enjoy commenting on.

OlympicMedalChaser wrote:

Samuel Mahele Akili wrote:

This post is garbage you are either a troll or really stupid or you a teen who knows nothing about anything

No I am someone that gets triggered seeing a Swiss skiers competing for Trinidad in the winter Olympics or people that have never lived in Jamaica competing for their distance team and still enjoying us citizenship. Ireland athletes are a joke too(has way too many people hopping over there claiming Irish citizenship to have an easier shot at making a team). Too many ridiculous examples to list out over the past decade.

Yeah I know I am not defending when people represent random countries for an easier path but why can't someone like praught-leer represent jamaica to get into the olympics because she has a jamaican parent she has every right to represent jamaica just like fahnbulleh has every right to represent liberia. Also ireland is a slippery slope so we should probably not go into it there is a reason why so many brits and americans have irish descent and why northen irish people can represent ireland. Also i'm sure you can admit your rules are extreme.

cent row wrote:

You may not agree with his proposed rules, but why jump to name calling?

It is an intriguing topic that people can enjoy commenting on.

It is a good topic to talk about but the rules are extreme.

OlympicMedalChaser wrote:

Samuel Mahele Akili wrote:

The rules should be you can represent a country if number 1 you have genuine ancestry to the country aka parent or grand-parents or you have been naturalized by marriage, residence, armed forces ect. Its that simple. If you are american and your mum is from panama then you have every right to represent panama why does this make you guys so angry. I understand africans suddenly being bahrani or qatari but if you have ancestry of a nation you have a right to compete for them.

Grandparents? You are ok with this?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seamus_O'Connor

My grandmother was Czech, I would feel ridiculous competing for a country my parents weren't even born in....

Fair point but let's say I am born in britain to a congolese father and a nigerian mother would you accept it if I decided to represent nigeria or the congo instead of GB

cent row wrote:

You may not agree with his proposed rules, but why jump to name calling?

It is an intriguing topic that people can enjoy commenting on.

But yes I am sorry for name-calling

Samuel Mahele Akili wrote:

OlympicMedalChaser wrote:

Grandparents? You are ok with this?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seamus_O'Connor

My grandmother was Czech, I would feel ridiculous competing for a country my parents weren't even born in....

Fair point but let's say I am born in britain to a congolese father and a nigerian mother would you accept it if I decided to represent nigeria or the congo instead of GB

If you moved there, became a citizen, learned the language, and renounced your British citizenship then yes I would support. Why not run for country you live in and grew up in? (The answer is because you can't make the team.....99% of the time).

OlympicMedalChaser wrote:

heavy roller wrote:

What's the purpose of 3? Suppose someone moves to the US at 15. They are adopted by an American family, attend high school and college here. After college they marry an American and have American kids. Yet they would have to wait until they are 30 to compete for the US. That doesn't quite seem fair.

See rule 7.

How does rule 7 allow someone to compete for the US? And why does it matter where someone lives when they are under 5? They can't even remember most of it. If you have a rule you need a rationale for the rule.

Have you considered that countries to which athletes have legally emigrated want them because their own native-born athletes aren't as good?