07-29-2024, 11:50 PM
The thing is, those country switches do happen. I think usually there is a switch because their actual home country has too much talent and so switching countries is their best chance to be an Olympian. But in a few cases where that isn't the dynamic, I think it's much more controversial and denigrated. Eileen Gu is probably the most relevant recent example of this.
But I think for even the people who switch nationalities just so they can compete, many/most observers recognize it as cheesy, and it's mostly tolerated because there is essentially no actual stakes involved and the cheesers usually aren't winning medals anyway. The Olympics are a fun diversion but very few if any people wrap up their whole identities with being a fan of different Olympians or their national teams like they do with college athletics.
But I think for even the people who switch nationalities just so they can compete, many/most observers recognize it as cheesy, and it's mostly tolerated because there is essentially no actual stakes involved and the cheesers usually aren't winning medals anyway. The Olympics are a fun diversion but very few if any people wrap up their whole identities with being a fan of different Olympians or their national teams like they do with college athletics.