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Post by richsapper on Jul 27, 2012 21:43:22 GMT -6
I found it really interesting that there were athletes tonight (it looked like all in track) who were not competing for a specific country. On one hand, I think it's cool that it's an option. On another, it seems counter to the purpose of the games. Either way, I think it will be interesting to see them compete.
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Post by richsapper on Jul 27, 2012 21:54:26 GMT -6
Just read an article, it looks like one of the athletes, Guor Marial, is practically an American. He is a permanent resident here and was supposed to be granted citizenship a year ago, but the process is taking longer than expected. Very interesting stories none-the-less
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Post by crowntownmike on Jul 27, 2012 22:30:27 GMT -6
I saw that. I like it a whole lot. Maybe everyone should compete on their own. Maybe. Maybe not. I like the countries fighting it out too.
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Post by apollo on Jul 28, 2012 15:50:57 GMT -6
The Olympics have had some different issues this year from mechanical legged runners, to questionable gender identification female track athletes, and track stars who don't want to call a country like Sudan home.
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Post by tommy on Jul 28, 2012 17:01:38 GMT -6
I found it sort of disturbing watching the 2008 Beijing games in learning that the Chinese Women's Gymnastics team pretty much strips their athletes away from their families when they are very young girls and pretty much does nothing but train them for the Olympics. They said they might see their families maybe once or twice a year. It's almost borderline slavery.
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Post by richsapper on Jul 29, 2012 12:18:29 GMT -6
apollo, that is true. The athlete you are referring to (Guor Marial) has actually been in the US for 11 years and he was supposed to have had US citizenship in June 2011, but the process is taking awhile. My understanding is that he considers himself an America, but his permanent resident status won't allow him to compete for the US team.
tommy, yeah, that's nothing new unfortunately.
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