Technically speaking - when do you officially become "an Olympian"?

This is easy. You are an Olympian when you moved into the olympic village!

When the gun (or horn or whistle or whatever) signals the start of your event, then you are an Olympian.

That includes team sports in which you might ride the pine the entire game/s. If you're kitted up and at the start and capable of entering the game, you're an Olympian in my opinion. If you qualify but don't show up, or show up and crash in your warm up and miss the race (this has happened to a few cyclists in various international competitions) and thus not capable of starting when the event begins, then you're not an Olympian.

So the entire 1980 Moscow squad cannot say they are olympians?

when you have officially made the olympic team.

So lets say Lio Xiang of china didn't participate in the olympics in 2004. He qualifies for the 2008 olympics gets out there for the warmups but doesn't give it a go because of injury. Is he still an olympian. I say yes. Once you make the walk around the track with the country you are an olympian.

"When the gun (or horn or whistle or whatever) signals the start of your event, then you are an Olympian."

+1

I thought the same thing as they kept calling the top-3 "olympians", and I muttered to myself, "not yet, they're not.". I agree with those who've said you qualify for that title when you've competed in the Olympics.

stuck with match.com wrote:

So lets say Lio Xiang of china didn't participate in the olympics in 2004. He qualifies for the 2008 olympics gets out there for the warmups but doesn't give it a go because of injury. Is he still an olympian. I say yes. Once you make the walk around the track with the country you are an olympian.

I considered this as a possibility.

Question for anybody- does the 4th place marathon "alternate" get to go to the Games and walk around the track for the Opening Ceremony?

yogibear wrote:

So the entire 1980 Moscow squad cannot say they are olympians?

yes.

I considered that, but voluntarily participating in the ceremonial opening of the Games, during most of which the Games have not even commenced, doesn't do it for me.

Even though you have walked around the track, the Games have not been declared commenced, and the torch has not yet been lit.

I think you actually have to at least start an event to be considered an Olympian--or, if it is a team event and you are a benchwarmer, your team has to start an event, and you have to be there.

ipso facto wrote:

yogibear wrote:

So the entire 1980 Moscow squad cannot say they are olympians?

yes.

Anyone else think it was sheer lunacy to even have an Olympic trials in 1980.....talk about playing into the Russians hands.

Did the Russians have an Olympic trials in 1984?

Has anyone actually watched Bedtime For Bonzo?

Wen you march in the stadeum. I have 23 metals in case you want to now.

You are an Olympian if and when you compete in the Olympics. Making a team does not make you an Olympian. This isn't the NFL pro bowl.

Once you have met the standards to join your country's Olympic team then have become an Olympian. You are now on an Olympic team. The 1980 Moscow qualifiers are Olympians, despite the fact they didn't compete.

Just like people who have been accepted into NASA's astronaut program are officially "astronauts," regardless of whether they have flown into orbit or not.

Thank you for allowing me to clear this up for you.

"Technically speaking" suggests that there's an actual rule that says someone is "officially" an "Olympian" at a certain point.

No one has pointed to any such rule - instead people have just given their opinions. To me, that suggests that there is no "official," "technically speaking" meaning to the word "Olympian." It's all just a matter of opinion.

If you want my opinion, I agree with the posters who say if you (or the team for your event, if you ride the bench) has actually begun competition, then it's fair to call yourself an Olympian, because you have then actually participated in your event at the Olympics.

If you use "Olympian" to = "member of your national team for the Olympics" then I suppose you could be called an Olympian before that point, but to me that would be misleading if you then never actually participated in the Olympics (like the US in 1980).

My opinion: When you participate in opening ceremonies.

If you are on the practice squad of the NFL Superbowl winning team you still get a ring. BUT you didn't suit up and were ineligible to participate.

I think SNL answers it best with this skit:

http://www.hulu.com/watch/319318/saturday-night-live-you-can-do-anything

special olympiun wrote:

Wen you march in the stadeum. I have 23 metals in case you want to now.

Ever get beat by a guy named Dean Karnazes? Seems like his kind of scene.

Franklin wrote:

Once you have met the standards to join your country's Olympic team then have become an Olympian. You are now on an Olympic team. The 1980 Moscow qualifiers are Olympians, despite the fact they didn't compete.

Just like people who have been accepted into NASA's astronaut program are officially "astronauts," regardless of whether they have flown into orbit or not.

Thank you for allowing me to clear this up for you.

No, they are in no way Olympians. It isn't their fault, but they did not compete.

If you get recruited to run at Stanford and the school closes its doors prior to you arriving on campus, do you walk around calling yourself a Stanford T&F Athlete? No. You say, "well, I was recruited by Stanford but wasn't able to run there due to the school being shut down."

There are asterisks all over the 1980 "team."