MONDO DUPLANTIS IS A GREAT ATHLETE - IS HE A COWARD?

Why do people here talk out of their @$$, and pretend to know what they're talking about? He has spent every summer for the last 18 years in Sweden. He is fluent in Swedish as a co-first language. Obviously, he is half Swede- not just "having Swedes in his family". Also, competing for Sweden means that he doesn't have to double peak as would be required for the American system. I just don't understand this. You've never even met him, let alone know him. Why would you state your bull$hit as fact?

Wow, you sound like someone who really knows a lot about this topic!

Coward? Nobody who slingshots his body 20 feet in the air on a fiberglass pole can be called a coward. It's the most dangerous event in track and field.

As for him competing for Sweden: I would prefer to see him in a USA uniform in Tokyo since he basically has spent his entire life here but it ultimately is his choice. He is in no way avoiding the Trials since he would almost certainly win them. The guy is going to win gold in Tokyo regardless of what uniform he wears.

OP and you are ?

nonsense citizenshipp wrote:

The kid is talented. No doubt.

He has Swedes in his family. Cool.

He's just NOT A SWEDE by any stretch.

Prediction: He will NEVER live in Sweden in his life.

He's grown up as an American, trained on American soil, eaten American Groceries, received the support of American Schools. On and On.

And, the first chance he got he decided to compete as a Swede, and completely avoid having to go through the tougher American Team and Olympic Trials.

The USA current lacks a lot to desire in many European folks eyes. Mondo, decided before that to abandon his country and compete for Sweden.

It's insulting. He took the easy way out. And he's not a guy who needed to do that.

Let the debate and the insults begin... This is LRC after all.

Ben Johnson, Donovan Bailey, Bruny Surin, Linford Christie were all born in the Caribbean, yet they all ran for the country they grew up in, and were a citizen of. Tommie Smith was born in Texas but raised in Cali, he was no Texan.

I 'd have to go you must represent the country you were raised in.

Coward,.........really not the word that needs to be used here.

There is another thread on Mondo. Why is this junk mail of posts still up?

Just go away wrote:

Why do people here talk out of their @$$, and pretend to know what they're talking about? He has spent every summer for the last 18 years in Sweden. He is fluent in Swedish as a co-first language. Obviously, he is half Swede- not just "having Swedes in his family". Also, competing for Sweden means that he doesn't have to double peak as would be required for the American system. I just don't understand this. You've never even met him, let alone know him. Why would you state your bull$hit as fact?

I'm confused why you got upset at the OP for making things up, but then made a bunch of things up yourself.

He has stated in interviews that the reason he is competing for Sweden is that it is a good career decision. He never mentioned when he set his allegiance that it had anything to do with feeling a burning desire to represent his swedish heritage.

It is a flag of convenince, a business decision. Its not the choice I would have made, but I cant fault him for it, either. At the end of the day, this sport should be viewed as a business at the top levels.

Again, this comes back to the entitlement I talked about in the WJR thread.

"He's American. He belongs to us!!"

F*** outta here!

Just go away wrote:

Why do people here talk out of their @$$, and pretend to know what they're talking about? He has spent every summer for the last 18 years in Sweden. He is fluent in Swedish as a co-first language. Obviously, he is half Swede- not just "having Swedes in his family". Also, competing for Sweden means that he doesn't have to double peak as would be required for the American system. I just don't understand this. You've never even met him, let alone know him. Why would you state your bull$hit as fact?

People become unreasonably enraged by little things like this because they can't wrap their little heads around the fact that someone *gasp* might not want to compete for "the greatest country on earth".

It puts a little dent in their perception that the USA is the greatest and that everyone is clamouring to live here. Really F's with their world view and forces them to think, even a split second: "Maybe, just maybe I'm not special after all".

Just go away wrote:

Why do people here talk out of their @$$, and pretend to know what they're talking about? He has spent every summer for the last 18 years in Sweden. He is fluent in Swedish as a co-first language. Obviously, he is half Swede- not just "having Swedes in his family". Also, competing for Sweden means that he doesn't have to double peak as would be required for the American system. I just don't understand this. You've never even met him, let alone know him. Why would you state your bull$hit as fact?

I found out that I can get dual Italian citizenship. Let's say that I was a 27 year old, 2:10 marathoner.

I'd try to make Italy's Olympic team- I wouldn't have to rely on being on for that one day. JEEZUZ- you could stub your toe getting out of the shower in your hotel room and your Olympic dream is gone.

EuroVisionary wrote:

Again, this comes back to the entitlement I talked about in the WJR thread.

"He's American. He belongs to us!!"

F*** outta here!

What actually happened is that Mondo grew up in America and when he had to choose which country's colors to wear when competing he flipped off America and basically said "F*** off America. I'm not American, and I won't compete as one of you.".

OK Mondo. Noted. I don't like the guy and America doesn't need more people like this. I'd respect him more if he'd close the deal and move to Sweden. So ... GTFO Mondo!

^ Good question.

The family gave America a chance and America didn't take it.

What happened according to secondary family sources was that when he was 14 or 15 and already the biggest talent the sport had ever seen, the Swedish SENIOR team captain called the family (the mother is Swedish) and gave them her home number, told them to call her any time, day or night, and that the Swedish team would give them any assistance they needed for the rest of his career if he choose to compete for Sweden.

They initially turned her down, basically for reasons other have stated here that they should.

Sometime later they wanted the US JUNIOR team (level unknown) involved in long term planning. They didn't even get a call back. And some T&A svamp bureaucrat basically hung up on them telling them he'd have to qualify top three at seniors like everyone else, and if he did he'd get his team clothes and a travel order in the mail.

Meanwhile the Swedish SENIOR team captain had continued to call pretty much regularly. Go figure what happened next.

And considering he's now pretty much already qualified for the Swedish team for the next 4 Olympics and every Worlds inbetween - can you blame them?

The US needs a super talent program to take care of athletes like this. But it's not gonna happen as long as Nike thinks Nike is more important than the US.

19'10.25"

#4 all-time in the world.

18 years old.

Shhhhh......

It's okay. Just stop talking.

Shhhhh.....

How does a 6.05m guy at 18 have to double-peak for nationals and world's or Olympics?

He has Sam Kendricks to beat, which can be a challenge for a few years, but who else is there? A six meter guy is just not going to have trouble qualifying unless he is too arrogant and doesn't jump at an easy height. Good for him to spend summers in Sweden and speak the language. I spent four summers in Sweden where my gmother had taken up with a Swedish farmer after her divorce. I didn't get a chance to learn much of the language, but I would never have said that I was a Swede. The kid took the easy way out and the fact is he had no need to do so. Drive the roads, walk the sidewalks, go to the public schools, live under the government but deny your citizenship.

Many people here, born in another country, or with a foreign-born parent, could have taken the easy way out to get to the Olympics, like Pappas, Mondo, Torrence, the guy running for Belgium, and so on, but they didn't, competed hard, and in most cases never made it, but it was honorable.

If all this is true, it shows the difference between a team where everyone's treated equally and a team where they seek out the talent and give them special treatment, poaching foreign talent like Klinsmann or various national soccer team coaches. It's objectionable that Sweden made years of attempts to poach him until it worked.

I find this story hard to believe, just because his dad was on the US National team and very well connected within the us pv community, so it seems hard to believe they couldn't get a call back from somebody in the US track community.

On the other hand, if you've ever met greg, he comes across as very entitled and arrogant, so that makes the story believable again. He is like a little chihuahua demanding respect from the big dogs. Might not be so much the kid as the dad driving the decision.

I would think that being a big fish in a small pond could be extremely good from him regarding money, as opposed to competing for the US.