Any athlete who switches nations for the sole purpose of it being easier to make the new country’s Olympic team.
Speaking of Elizabeth Swaney she has rebranded herself as a very frequent marathoner. https://www.athlinks.com/search/unclaimed?category=unclaimed&term=Elizabeth%20Swaney
StrangerDanger wrote:
Speaking of Elizabeth Swaney she has rebranded herself as a very frequent marathoner.
https://www.athlinks.com/search/unclaimed?category=unclaimed&term=Elizabeth%20Swaney
Wow, she should go back to skiing
Lagat in 2004.
Christian Smith. Khadevis Robinson would have been a better Oly representative in '08.
Ha. 'Running' marathons and 5Ks. From the times she must be one helluva fat lady.
Traverse City Trojans 2007 wrote:
freeidea wrote:
Des Linden when she went to Olympics hurt and DNF'd quickly. Give up the spot for a healthy athlete.
I will never forget that moment. It was the most selfish thing I’ve ever witnessed. That was 8 years ago and there is a large group of us that still can’t forget it.
Everyone else at the trials should have run faster then.
Barabbas wrote:
Any athlete who switches nations for the sole purpose of it being easier to make the new country’s Olympic team.
Totally idiotic line of thinking. It is a great business decision. She made the right choice, especially considering how quickly Americans turned on her for it. I hope she'll find a way to cope with the haters!
UsedToBeKnowItAll wrote:
This is the one I was thinking of as well. There was another one I remember. Some guy that got in on a technicality. Could barely swim, but somehow got in as a swimmer, and then was celebrated when he barely finished the 50m freestyle. I think every Olympics they let people like this in to try to broaden the appeal to nations that have little to no participation. And maybe that's a good enough reason, and they do deserve to be there just to participate. It's not like they are taking medals away from anyone.
That was Eric "The Eekl" Moussambani from Equatorial Guinea, who got into the 100 meter freestyle at the 2000 Sydney Games via a wildcard draw designed to encourage Olympic participation in developing nations. He'd only begun swimming 8 months before the games and had never been in a 50-meter pool until he got to Sydney.
Moussambani finished his heat in 1:52.72, the slowest time for the distance in Olympic history, but "won" his heat because his two competitors were DQd for false-starting. However, his time was too slow for him to advance to the next round.
WinnytheBish wrote:
Barabbas wrote:
Any athlete who switches nations for the sole purpose of it being easier to make the new country’s Olympic team.
Totally idiotic line of thinking. It is a great business decision. She made the right choice, especially considering how quickly Americans turned on her for it. I hope she'll find a way to cope with the haters!
If you were born and raised in the USA and you are representing a country that one of your parents was born in, that's fine if you are doing it because you want to honor your parents, have ties to that country or some other noble reason. If the only reason you are doing it is because you suck and know you cannot make the US team, people will think you don't deserve to be an Olympian, which is what this question asks. There are many people who came 4th at the trials that wish they had a parent from Uzbekistan so they could be their #1 steeplechaser.
Alexi and Aisha are Olympians with an Asterisk.
Me, almost.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_MoussambaniEddie the Eagle wrote:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_the_Eagle
Also, the GDR teams of the 70's and 80's, the Moroccan teams of the 90s and 00s, and the Kenyan teams of the last 30 years.
Prince Albert of Monaco. Dude was a bobsledder in every Olympics for twenty years.
She was the absolute worst -- clearly attention seeking psycho, per her interview and media appearances after her "performance."
In 2018, there was also 1 (or maybe a couple?) cross country skier that was an absolute joke --
Barabbas wrote:
Any athlete who switches nations for the sole purpose of it being easier to make the new country’s Olympic team.
You mean, like this guy?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neko_HiroshiVanessa Mae probably should've stuck to the violin.
hijab hobby jogger
Am I living in the twilight zone? The Boston Marathon weather was terrible!
Is there a rule against attaching a helium balloon to yourself while running a road race?
How rare is it to run a sub 5 minute mile AND bench press 225?
Matt Choi was drinking beer halfway through the Boston Marathon
Move over Mark Coogan, Rojo and John Kellogg share their 3 favorite mile workouts
2024 College Track & Field Open Coaching Positions Discussion
Des Linden: "The entire sport" has changed since she first started running Boston.