What do you think of foreign athletes living in the US, receiving US training and attending US universities?

Question

Should these athletes' medals count towards the US totals or towards the athlete's native countries medal totals?

Answer 1

This is a non-argument if you look at the grand scheme of things:

The UK does pretty good for it's size every time, do you know why? Because they specialize at something and do it consistently until they're known to be a powerhouse for that sport (see Jamaican short track, Kenyan long track, Aussie and American swimming, etc. ). The one exception to all of this is the Americans, who happen to be pretty darn good all over the board, and this doesn't fluctuate from Olympiad to Olympiad, they are consistently at the tops in the medal count every time. Do you know why? It's because America is a composite of the world, all in one place working towards a common goal, setting their differences aside to get the job done. We have Germans, Austrians, Britts, Frenchies, Brazilians, Puerto Ricans, Japanese, Chinese, EVERYTHING comes together in America. So in terms of a population (or nation in this case) that cranks out the medals I would go with the USA. They also have the best training facilities, and keep in mind Jamaican runners are training in the USA (Texas A&M, Florida State Univ. and Louisiana State Univ to name a few). How many people travel to Mexico to train???

AT LEAST 33 FOREIGN-BORN ATHLETES will be members of the 596-person U.S. Olympic team in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Summer Games. The U.S. Olympic Committee reports 27 foreign-born athletes competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics. Canada is reported to have over 50 foreign born athletes on its Olympic team, and countries all over the world are doing the same.

Lopez Lomong (1,500-meters track and field runner), formerly from Sudan, will carry the U.S. flag at the Opening Ceremony. Lopez was given the honor by a vote of the team captains of the entire U.S. Olympic Team.

Some of the foreign born athletes competing for the U.S. Olympic team include:

Russia - Nastia Liukin - One of the world’s top gymnasts.

Kenya - Bernard Lagat - 1,500 meters in men’s track.

Mexico - Leo Manzano - 1,5000 meters in men’s track.

Soviet Union (1992) & Georgia (1996, 2000) - Khatuna Lorig - Archery.

Peru - Giuseppe Lanzone - Men’s rowing team.

United Kingdom - Heather Corrie - Women’s kayaking.

India - Raj Bhavsar - Men’s gymnastics.

China - Gao Jun, Chen Wang, Crystal Huang, David Zhuang - Table tennis.

Australia - Phillip Dutton - Equestrian team.

Laos - Bob Malaythong - Badminton.

And what about foreign coaches that train athletes competing for different countries!?

Answer 2

The response that these athletes were unable to make the US teams is ludicrous.  Cavic is a perfect example, he would certainly have made the US team.  The foreign-born athletes who do not compete for the US are here for a reason; the US provides more high quality training and coaching, not to mention a much more comfortable lifestyle.  Our US-born athletes are not selected in childhood and trained in special government schools until they are ready (or in the case of China's "women" gymnasts, not quite ready) for competition.  Our athletes are identified by the most natural yardstick; they are really good at what they do and many have been since childhood, and have a desire and drive for excellence.  It is said that the best measure of a nation's quality is simply how many want in and how many want out, and I don't see a lot of Americans standing in line to train and live in foreign countries.  Bottom line:  If you live here and train here, you are a US Olympian.  This is an issue the IOC should have addressed many years ago.

Answer 3

No, their medals count for the countries they play for, regardless of where they live or train.

Answer 4

I don't have an opinion on it one way or another. The U.S. isn't the only country that sponsors athletes from foreign countries. They just had a thing on NBC about an American women's basketball player who is playing for the Russian team because the US team rejected her. There is also a Romanian gymnast competing for the German team. And there is nothing wrong with them attending universities here either. Doctors and engineers from foreign countries get their training and education, too. It's not like they're trying to take our land, slaughter our livestock, and force us onto reservations the way the white settlers did to the Native Americans.

Answer 5

I think it's fine.  Many athletes use sports to get out of bad situations back in their country but are still proud of their culture.

Sometimes the US just has better training facilities.  Many Japanese figure skaters train in the US with coaches from the former Soviet Union because rinks are few and far between there or too small or lack high level coaching.

I think it's great.  It encourages American athletes to do better as they watch what others have done and gives athletes from other countries great opportunities.

Answer 6

American is made up of immigrants dude, where have you been.

Answer 7

As long as they are winning medals for us then who cares?

Answer 8

The reason most of them compete for other countries is because they couldn't make the U.S. team and that's the only way they get to compete.  There are a few exceptions, but not many.