Sam Parsons to represent Germany

This sort of hair-splitting is what I saw coming. Neither has lived within either country nor embraced its culture for any appreciable amount of time. Speaking German while growing up in the US is like pooping in a urinal hoping the poop will magically turn into urine. Are German fans elated over this move? Parsons could have gone over after graduating high school, why not? Because there was a funded development program at US colleges he could slide easily into and game for personal benefit? Don't dig too deep to find your potshots at Pappas, you just dislike her because she doesn't fit your twisted mental narrative, your double standards built to look down on women.

Big difference here wrote:

It was Pappas' grandmother who was from Greece, It is Parson's mother. He is much closer to that country, he speaks the language. I don't know for a fact, but I doubt Pappas speaks greek. Parson's goes there often, how often has Pappas gone to Greece. People trying to say this is different because he's a guy and she's a girl are idiots. My great grandparents are from Germany, does that mean I should claim that country? No, it's too far back. But a direct parent only separates you from the country by a decade or two and would have close family still there, that's waaaaaaay more reasonable.

YMMV wrote:

Hamboner wrote:

Sam Parsons just announced his decision to represent Germany going forward. Is this another Alexi Pappas or a smart move? Discus

Editor's note. If you are referencing something, it helps if you provide a link. Here is the a video of Parsons announcing his decision.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=86&v=ArbKzYLhPgA

0:43 I had no idea how much Bavaria resembles the Front Range!

The Alps have their own Flatirons, little-known fact!

It's absolutely a "Pappas" move, and anyone who says otherwise is choosing to hold a double standard. With that said, I don't care who they represent because it doesn't matter what I think. If you had an easier shot to make the Olympics and you have dual citizenship, you should take that shot. You'd be stupid as a professional athlete not to. It's about money, not patriotism.

Whether or not it is a smart move for his career is up for debate. For example, Letsrun recently wrote how Justyn Knight may be struggling now because of lack of meaningful competition until the World Championships in October. I just wish people could make the switch without all the BS about them feeling connected to their adopted country. Parsons and Pappas would both be representing USA if they were good enough.

Big difference here wrote:

It is Parson's mother. He is much closer to that country, he speaks the language.

Not as close as he is to the USA! By logical extension, jumping through the same type of rationalizing hoops, does he hate his father, err vater??

Like A Bosshard wrote:

It's a simple matter of the IAAF requiring athletes to represent a country as a junior in order to represent it as a senior athlete.

Aren't some athletes "late bloomers" and won't be good enough to make the junior teams? - people like Nick Symmonds for example who did actually medal for the US in a senior championship. What happens to them in this situation?

dsdsada wrote:

It's absolutely a "Pappas" move, and anyone who says otherwise is choosing to hold a double standard. With that said, I don't care who they represent because it doesn't matter what I think. If you had an easier shot to make the Olympics and you have dual citizenship, you should take that shot. You'd be stupid as a professional athlete not to. It's about money, not patriotism.

Sesamoiditis wrote:

Whether or not it is a smart move for his career is up for debate. For example, Letsrun recently wrote how Justyn Knight may be struggling now because of lack of meaningful competition until the World Championships in October. I just wish people could make the switch without all the BS about them feeling connected to their adopted country. Parsons and Pappas would both be representing USA if they were good enough.

That's really the bottom line in this. It does make sense that guys would want to downplay and defend the real reasons why Parsons would do this, individually and collectively the average poster on this board relates to him as someone who looks, acts, and speaks (without a German accent) like one of their teammates or training partners. It's an easier path to get to the WC or OG, absolutely. He's no different than any free agent in a pro sport who moves to a different team while claiming "it's not about the money." Him selling the mom stuff so hard says he knows how this looks for his image and that a lot of his fans would feel alienated if he didn't try to sell it that way. I'd respect it and him more if he at least had the balls to be fully transparent about it. However, the reality is that he'll really be no closer to actually medaling, he'll probably finish no higher than Pappas did in Rio. Really, they're simply Olympic tourists.

Another double standard, if you're not happy about this then how can you be fine with Mondo? He was born and lived his whole life here, yet competes for Sweden where his mom is from.

It'd be nice if there was a rule similar to this, you compete for the country you lived in the first 18 years of your life, or the country you have gained citizenship for and chose to live in once you turned 18. Meaning if he wants to compete for another country that he never lived in, then he must go live there now. If someone who grew up in another country but lives here now, they can still compete for their 'home' country.

Walt Kowalski wrote:

It's a GREAT move! Because now Allie Kieffer is moving back to Boulder to date him.

What? Allie is dating Brad.

late bloomers wrote:

Like A Bosshard wrote:

It's a simple matter of the IAAF requiring athletes to represent a country as a junior in order to represent it as a senior athlete.

Aren't some athletes "late bloomers" and won't be good enough to make the junior teams? - people like Nick Symmonds for example who did actually medal for the US in a senior championship. What happens to them in this situation?

If they're good enough to make senior teams, they're at least good enough to compete as juniors under that national affiliation even if they aren't good enough to make a junior team. Even if they didn't, someone like Andy Wheating was a US citizen prior to turning 18. It shouldn't be a difficult thing to prove. It's more a matter of saying if an athlete has represented one country as a junior, they can only represent that country as a senior athlete, minus certain refugee crisis situations.

If you hate this then hate Mondo wrote:

Another double standard, if you're not happy about this then how can you be fine with Mondo?

Huh? WTF?? Where did I ever say I was???

Weirdo.

The real question is why athletes have to represent a country at the World Championships or Olympics in an individual sport like Track and Field.

You would think the "World Championships" would be a meet that tried to have all the best runners in the world present. I guess it is more important to have more countries present than it is to have the best field possible. (Hey I'm not complaining, I would be far less invested in championship races with 12 Kenyans and no Americans).

This is a smart move by Parsons as he is now much more likely to run in the Olympics, which even the average person is going to be impressed with. I am sure he has some German roots and his family over there is excited, but if the move didn't make sense financially and from a career standpoint, I doubt he would have done it. Same with Pappas, same with the WCAP guys.

I do think the difference in responses to Parsons and Pappas is really just about whether you liked them before the decision or not. That doesn't mean it is sexism.

I'm surprised that David Torrence (RIP) hasn't been mentioned.

It will be a great year for Parsons if he actually gets to compete at Worlds by breaking 13:22! Would be a sizable PB!

That’s a friggin bad-ss video.

Why are the Olympics organized by country if you can just switch countries on whim? Why not just eliminate country affiliation and make it an individual event, like golf or tennis? This guy has dual citizenship, true, but there is always some kind of way people can switch. Join the army, marry someone, etc.

And by the way, Deutschland über alles

People thinking he has an easy way in now are mistaken. Germany does not simply let you go to the world championships, European championships, or olympics just because you're top three with the standard. They have their own more challenging standards because they don't want to send people to get their @$$es kicked. If the world standard is 13:22, they'll typically require something a little faster to allow that person to go. For example women's european standard last year was 2:02.5 for the 800 but I know that Germany held their standard at 2:01.6.

I believe Canada does something similar, they simply let you go just because you're top 3 with the standard, they have more challenging standards of their own.

You cannot just change on a whim. You need dual citizenship in the first place and this is not always easy to get. And once you have competed for one country you cannot easily change back but have to wait several years if you want to.

Furthermore, while Germany is quite weak in the men's middle/long distances it's not that Parsons (or Bartelsmeyer) can always count on easily running faster than the three best Germans. Although they are lucky that Ringer will probably focus on 10k and later on Marathon and Florian Orth (PBs 3:34 13:23) seems to be beyond his best times as well and the somewhat younger 5k runners are struggling with getting sub 13:30.

Finally, the 13:22 qualifying time for the WC will not be easy for either, even if no other German gets close to that mark.

Sure, he made it slightly less difficult. Now he doesn't have to hit the standard and then peak for both the Olympics plus racing rounds 3-4 weeks before to make the team. He gets to skip the grind of the OT that time and again would spit someone like him right out. Again, as others have noted if he could hit the standard or be well within it like a dozen other US citizens, he wouldn't have made this move. This isn't about love for the Fatherland, that's the window dressing.