[M T]

This might be a bit hard to take but imagine if Olympic team participation was bought and sold like top NCAA athletes.  (Yuck!)

Yeah, countries pay their athletes, and Olympic medals can bring big bonuses.  I imagine that perhaps most of name, image, likeness use by the USOC and other Olympic committees and sport organizations (FINA, FIBA, ...) results in pay (but I'm not sure).   But the difficulty to freely transfer for the Olympics seems to have prevented the "free" agency bidding for services that we are seeing in some NCAA sports.  Clearly some athletes do change citizenship in order to participate for another country (but all the ones I've heard of were so the athlete could go to the Olympics, not so they'd get paid more).  Some athletes may have the option to choose among a small set of countries to represent.

Otherwise, Saudi Arabia might field great women skiers.

To me, it is interesting (and sad) to think of the difference between Olympic participation and NCAA participation today.

[M T]

This might be a bit hard to take but imagine if Olympic team participation was bought and sold like top NCAA athletes.  (Yuck!)

Yeah, countries pay their athletes, and Olympic medals can bring big bonuses.  I imagine that perhaps most of name, image, likeness use by the USOC and other Olympic committees and sport organizations (FINA, FIBA, ...) results in pay (but I'm not sure).   But the difficulty to freely transfer for the Olympics seems to have prevented the "free" agency bidding for services that we are seeing in some NCAA sports.  Clearly some athletes do change citizenship in order to participate for another country (but all the ones I've heard of were so the athlete could go to the Olympics, not so they'd get paid more).  Some athletes may have the option to choose among a small set of countries to represent.

Otherwise, Saudi Arabia might field great women skiers.

To me, it is interesting (and sad) to think of the difference between Olympic participation and NCAA participation today.

[dabigv13]

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.

[dabigv13]

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.

[Mick]

Rory McIlroy faced the "Ireland vs. Great Britain" which-country-do-I-represent" question. He's historically played for Ireland.

Why Rory McIlroy is representing Ireland not Great Britain in Paris Olympics

[Mick]

Rory McIlroy faced the "Ireland vs. Great Britain" which-country-do-I-represent" question. He's historically played for Ireland.

Why Rory McIlroy is representing Ireland not Great Britain in Paris Olympics

[SkiBum80]

Joel Embiid was reportedly able to play for 3 Olympic teams: USA, France, or Cameroon
Turned down Cameroon cause didn’t think they’d qualify.
As noted Eileen Gu woulda won medals for any country and perhaps chose China for the bucketloads of NIL type cash
Also I think some countries have a history of admiring if not idolizing all their Olympic gold winning athletes more than even in USA.
Some but certainly not all USA winners achieve the notoriety common occurring in other countries.

[SkiBum80]

Joel Embiid was reportedly able to play for 3 Olympic teams: USA, France, or Cameroon
Turned down Cameroon cause didn’t think they’d qualify.
As noted Eileen Gu woulda won medals for any country and perhaps chose China for the bucketloads of NIL type cash
Also I think some countries have a history of admiring if not idolizing all their Olympic gold winning athletes more than even in USA.
Some but certainly not all USA winners achieve the notoriety common occurring in other countries.

[bbm233]

This might be a bit hard to take but imagine if Olympic team participation was bought and sold like top NCAA athletes.  (Yuck!)


Saudi Arabia might field great women skiers.

Qatar is the world leader at this tactic. A big % of their Olympians are newly naturalized citizens. Been doing it since the London games.

[bbm233]

This might be a bit hard to take but imagine if Olympic team participation was bought and sold like top NCAA athletes.  (Yuck!)


Saudi Arabia might field great women skiers.

Qatar is the world leader at this tactic. A big % of their Olympians are newly naturalized citizens. Been doing it since the London games.

[M T]

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.

Many, many athletes from a very young age dream of being good enough to go to what you label a “diversion”, be it archery, equestrian, women’s gymnastics, etc, etc. That dream is part of their drive to train and compete for a decade or so, long before choosing a college. Almost all of them wind up not  making the Olympics but that doesn’t make the Olympics a “diversion”.

[M T]

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.

Many, many athletes from a very young age dream of being good enough to go to what you label a “diversion”, be it archery, equestrian, women’s gymnastics, etc, etc. That dream is part of their drive to train and compete for a decade or so, long before choosing a college. Almost all of them wind up not  making the Olympics but that doesn’t make the Olympics a “diversion”.

[fullmetal]

What's interesting is when very talented athletes choose to represent a nation with fewer sports resources, e.g. Thea LaFond for Dominica, Winfred Yavi for Bahrain, or Kaylia Nemour for Algeria.  And let's not forget the entire Puerto Rican Olympic team.

[fullmetal]

What's interesting is when very talented athletes choose to represent a nation with fewer sports resources, e.g. Thea LaFond for Dominica, Winfred Yavi for Bahrain, or Kaylia Nemour for Algeria.  And let's not forget the entire Puerto Rican Olympic team.