[teejers1]

In terms of athletes competing at the games, I don't hold anything against them, of course. I hold it against the IOC for giving hosting rights to China and sponsors for seeking reputational gain from their association with it. (note, of course, that most sports have annual world championships, so this is hardly most athletes' only opportunity to claim to be the world's best.)

As for athletes who switch countries, what galls me about Gu versus Macario is that Macario went to college in the US and as far as I know plans to reside here. In that sense, she really has moved and embraced life as an American.

Bur Gu would like to attend a US college, avail herself of the rights and privileges of US Citizenship, and presumably will continue to reside and pay taxes here. Yet she chooses to represent China and, as BC aptly put it, help China "launder" its reputation on an international stage. I'm sure there's more complexity to these dynamics than we can appreciate, but I simply am not going to root for that. And I'm sure her agent has already run the calculation and concluded she'll pick up 10 new Chinese fans for everyone one American like me who says "no thanks." So be it.

One other factor, a big one: I don't think anyone begrudges an American citizen from competing for another country when they had no shot of participating in the Olympics on the American team.  Harmon falls into that camp, as do the (vast?) majority of other dual-citizenship Americans competing in the Olympics. (Add: Whoops. I see that 2006 made this point earlier . . . )

[teejers1]

In terms of athletes competing at the games, I don't hold anything against them, of course. I hold it against the IOC for giving hosting rights to China and sponsors for seeking reputational gain from their association with it. (note, of course, that most sports have annual world championships, so this is hardly most athletes' only opportunity to claim to be the world's best.)

As for athletes who switch countries, what galls me about Gu versus Macario is that Macario went to college in the US and as far as I know plans to reside here. In that sense, she really has moved and embraced life as an American.

Bur Gu would like to attend a US college, avail herself of the rights and privileges of US Citizenship, and presumably will continue to reside and pay taxes here. Yet she chooses to represent China and, as BC aptly put it, help China "launder" its reputation on an international stage. I'm sure there's more complexity to these dynamics than we can appreciate, but I simply am not going to root for that. And I'm sure her agent has already run the calculation and concluded she'll pick up 10 new Chinese fans for everyone one American like me who says "no thanks." So be it.

One other factor, a big one: I don't think anyone begrudges an American citizen from competing for another country when they had no shot of participating in the Olympics on the American team.  Harmon falls into that camp, as do the (vast?) majority of other dual-citizenship Americans competing in the Olympics. (Add: Whoops. I see that 2006 made this point earlier . . . )