Ok. Thanks for sort of answering. But as someone else said, loads of people get into the Olympics via dual citizenship so singling out Trujillo makes it look like you've got a grudge. And while to you it's wrong it's not to the people who count.
Ok. Thanks for sort of answering. But as someone else said, loads of people get into the Olympics via dual citizenship so singling out Trujillo makes it look like you've got a grudge. And while to you it's wrong it's not to the people who count.
Ok. Thanks for sort of answering. But as someone else said, loads of people get into the Olympics via dual citizenship so singling out Trujillo makes it look like you've got a grudge. And while to you it's wrong it's not to the people who count.
I don't have an axe to grind against Trujillo. I criticized Felix Sanchez when he did it too. At least he didn't flip flop. It is one thing to move to a new country and change citizenship and compete for them. You don't see Meb trying to compete for Eritrea. He is proud to be an American and represent his country. Lots of people criticized how Qatar has gotten away with this and this really is no different.
Alistair Cragg was another I criticized on here when he wasn't a Irish citizen. But somehow managed to weasel his way into getting an Irish passport even though he was born in South Africa and lived in the the US. Why don't we just figure out a way to get every Olympic qualifier to represent some country no matter what. I can see it now.
Athlete- well I finished last at the Trials, I guess my season is over
Agent- Don't worry kid I looked into it and no one is representing Easter Island in the marathon
Athlete- No one in my family is from Easter Island
Agent- You have a big head like a Moai, you are in
I was kind of avoiding voicing my opinion on this, but I'll go ahead and say I actually do agree with you, although in a less aggressive way. The citizenship issue is a grey area and I personally consider it on a case-by-case basis. I'm not 100% familiar with Trujilo's situation, but I until this, I wasn't aware you could race US Championships (especially with the intent of making the team) and then represent another country in the same time frame. I thought the IAAF made you sit out a year when you want to run for another country. In fact, I know they often do this, just like some NCAA runners have to when they transfer.
I don't think you should be allowed to "flip-flop" back and forth as is convenient or use one country as a "back-up". I'm not saying for sure that's what Truillo did, but it kind of sounds like it. If Alexi Pappas wants to represent Greece, that is fine, but she should continue representing Greece in 2017 too. Not go to 2017 Worlds for the US and then Greece again at Euro Champs and then US again for World XC, etc. That is my opinion anyway. Nationality should mean something.
But my earlier point still stands that it was still a good story and worth a homepage link. I commend Trujilo bringing himself from a guy who couldn't walk-on at Oregon to a national class runner.
I couldn't find anything where the iaaf makes you sit out a year. It may just seem like that because countries sometimes won't release athletes so to speak. The Wilson Kipketer situation comes to mind. Which I think is a shame he didn't get to race in the Olympics that year he was the best in the world at 800m.
I agree too with Trujilo going from a walk on at Oregon to a 1:03 half and 2:14 marathoner being an amazing story. I just had to point out the flip flop situation. Alexi Pappas I am fine with too if she only represents Greece in the future.
National pride it seems has become less and less as we become more of a global economy and that is a shame. The Olympics shouldn't be the event where this is exploited.
From this article:
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/sports/2016/04/01/cuban-defector-banned-from-olympics-because-not-spanish-resident-long-enough/This might be a separate issue though since possibly Cuba is not "releasing" Ortega and that is part of the hold-up which is requiring more time living in Spain. Or it could be the fact that he didn't have dual citizenship in the first place which is what is creating the hold-up.
I think it's BS Ortega can't run for Spain while others can switch at the drop of a hat. Ortega left Cuba in 2013 (according to this article and my memory) and we're not almost a full three years later and he can't run for Spain? The citizenship rules clearly have some problem areas.
I'm pretty sure, but not totally sure, that the rule on this is that an athlete needs to have been a citizen of the country s/he wants to represent internationally for at least a year so someone with dual citizenship from birth would be eligible to represent either country. I'm also pretty sure there is a stipulation that prevents an athlete who represented one of their countries internationally within a certain time frame, not sure what it is but I think it's around 5 years, from representing the other country internationally UNLESS the governing body of the country s/he first represented gives permission to that athlete to represent their other country.