Some seem Salty about Alexi's decision. Your thoughts?

Listen Andy Vernon,

Mo Farah grew up in West London from the age of 8

He never represented Somalia in any competition

He applied for tax exile status because he didn't want to pay taxes in 2 countries which make sense

Now, go and train hard so maybe one day you can represent your country in an international competition

The spirit of the games has changed from the Paris Games where it took 2 weeks for the American team to cruise across the ocean to todays games where it only takes 6 hours to cover the same distance. The sprit of the games of old is antiquated and outdated compared to todays shorter travel times an easier access to visa's.

I've lived in America all of my 58+ years and from a very early time in my life I've been aware of dual citizenship. I'm not opposed to it nor the people who posses it and to and wear which ever flag flag they choose for international competition.

Maybe I'm being a bit nostalgic but isn't this what America is all about? Having broad shoulders and inviting in anyone/everyone who's acceptable/eligible shouldn't make recent immigrants with dual citizenship feel they should have to choose between us or them. As far as I can remember America is still a free country. And anyone with dual citizenship that our government recognizes as dual, should be able to choose which ever nation they wish to represent without recrimination.

Why do some people still have "Bird Brains" when it relates to sports and dual citizenship?

I see it two ways when running for a different country

1) You were BORN in that country speak the language etc... came over for HS/ college / pro (Mo Farah) (still live in the US) but compete for your native country... that is fine.

2) Or you immigrate to that country PLACE ROOTS, Learn the language and PAY TAXES! (i.e. LAGAT)

What Alexi is doing is a BS free ride to the Olympics... Seriously you were born in the country just like the rest of us, it is one of the hardest teams in the world to make, suck it up, train hard, hope for the best or MOVE to greece!

ZERO RESPECT

I don't blame her most people would do the same thing. She has had every advantage thrown her way though...she is slumming a little..oh well, good for her.

This is pretty common in other sports. There were plenty of American baseball players on the Italian baseball team in the Olympics and most of them couldn't speak Italian. Puerto Rico has also stocked their Olympic basketball team with players with not very strong ties to the island.

you seem really irritated. why do we even where our county name then and walk with flags in opening ceremony. seems like it really doesn't matter anymore, what with the quick travel times and all.

I'm sorry, you're a fool.

Let's look at it this way. Imagine Dennis Kimetto had one grandparent born in the U.S., and had dual citizenship. Then he decides to come to the U.S. to participate in the Marathon trials which he wins. Then he goes back to Kenya to continue his training with his coach and teammates until the Olympics come around, at which time he does his thing, and then goes back to Kenya to live the rest of his life until the next Olympics come around, at which time he does the same thing as before.

Different situation regarding the dynamic with the other athletes, but same basic principle as what Alexi Pappas is doing - representing a community that she has absolutely nothing to do with.

Not a Trump Fan wrote:

If I the Greek Olympic committee I wouldn't want her running for us.

The Greek Olympic Committee has had more than a century to put in place a policy preventing this situation. Their decision to not make such a policy is proof that they do, in fact, want her running for them.

long history of it wrote:

This is pretty common in other sports. There were plenty of American baseball players on the Italian baseball team in the Olympics and most of them couldn't speak Italian. Puerto Rico has also stocked their Olympic basketball team with players with not very strong ties to the island.

Exactly. Unless you're being *willfully ignorant* of the facts and sports history (and I wouldn't put it past the typical LetsRun troll to be), you should have heard of Thomas Dooley (born and raised in Germany) and several others who have played for the US national soccer team, or Felix Sanchez (born & raised in US and runs for Dominican Republic). Or how about the guy who almost robbed Michael Phelps of that seventh old medal, the "Serbian" Milo Cavic (born & raised in US)?

This is just off the top of my head. There are plenty of Olympic and international sports where the U.S. is second-rate and we have uncritically (or at least overwhelmingly) welcomed import talent from other countries. I can't see why you'd begrudge an American with a dual heritage of that opportunity.

This sort of post seems to be the perfect storm for the worst of LetsRun trolls. It gives such trolls the chance to combine their ignorance, misogyny, xenophobia, unearned elitism, and general sociopathy. And we wonder why running "fandom" stays small and insular...

Devil Dog wrote:

portlandguy wrote:

Dunbar seemed to have a a pointed tweet

He should have that looked at

Well played.

Sports federations will play their country's citizenship and naturalization laws to get the best athletes. See the US mens soccer team. Greece is happy to have her, they can't afford to pay their own athletes and their facilities are falling apart. She's better off staying in Oregon.

Some countries like Italy allow for grandchildren of Italian citizens to have Italian citizenship. Others have scotched that, like the Netherlands. Some like Germany don't let immigrants have dual citizenship.

The US is roughly the same size as Europe, it's really hard to finance and field all these teams. Alexi isn't stealing anyone's spot on the team, but it will be interesting to see if she races the European Championships in July.

The Equestrians can get their horses from any country they want. No need for them to be born in the riders country.

nice summary of the letsrun mentality

It was a peppery decision to say the least.

I liked Chris Derrick's response of bringing up Dunbar's transfer to Oregon. Maybe Dunbar should self reflect for a moment. I can't imagine why Americans are complaining about this. If the Greeks are ok with it, then good luck to her!

Yup. wrote:

I liked Chris Derrick's response of bringing up Dunbar's transfer to Oregon. Maybe Dunbar should self reflect for a moment. I can't imagine why Americans are complaining about this. If the Greeks are ok with it, then good luck to her!

I think her decision was fine from a personal thought process, but I think the concept of what she is being permitted to do (and the teams with international makeup) is flawed if we are truly trying to keep the Olympics a competition between countries, which is what makes it the special event it is. We are lessening the purpose and mission of the Olympics by permitting this. We are fooling ourselve if we think "we" beat the Brazilians in soccer if half of our team is from Brazil.

Consider this.... wrote:

Yup. wrote:

I liked Chris Derrick's response of bringing up Dunbar's transfer to Oregon. Maybe Dunbar should self reflect for a moment. I can't imagine why Americans are complaining about this. If the Greeks are ok with it, then good luck to her!

I think her decision was fine from a personal thought process, but I think the concept of what she is being permitted to do (and the teams with international makeup) is flawed if we are truly trying to keep the Olympics a competition between countries, which is what makes it the special event it is. We are lessening the purpose and mission of the Olympics by permitting this. We are fooling ourselve if we think "we" beat the Brazilians in soccer if half of our team is from Brazil.

Whether she made the right decision is up to debate(from a business standpoint it was absolutely the correct call) but I think its hard to argue the process is flawed. I think there needs to be something where you must meet certain residency requirements for the country you are representing to prevent situations like this. I would propose something like you must have had residency in the country you represent for half of the Olympic cycle leading up to the games in addition to citizenship. If you were out of country attending school in another nation during that would not affect your eligibility to represent your home country that you had been living in before leaving for school.

I wasn't clear how long has she been a Greek citizen? The article made it sound like although she was eligible because of her lineage she just got Greek citizenship fairly recently in order to compete for them. Or am I mistaken and she has had citizenship longer?

re: "This is just off the top of my head. There are plenty of Olympic and international sports where the U.S. is second-rate and we have uncritically (or at least overwhelmingly) welcomed import talent from other countries. I can't see why you'd begrudge an American with a dual heritage of that opportunity."

You should become familiar with USA immigration and naturalization laws; no athletes can just decide they want to represent the USA at that's it.