I have just watched the 4x400m relay in the World Indoor Championships, and the Great Britain team beat the USA team by three one-hundredths of a second, to win the gold medal. Ordinarily, this would be cause for some celebration. Unfortunately the win is tainted.
The first leg was run by Shana Cox, who is actually American. The fact that she moved to these shores last year and took up her right to compete for the UK through having British-born parents is irrelevant as far as I'm concerned. Sorry, but if you are born in the States, train in the States and live your life in New York, you are not British. However, the rules allowed her to switch. Immediately she did so, a British athlete was relegated, and lost her place in the top four. The incoming Sara Cox thus managed to oust an athlete who'd lived here and trained here all her life.
So, the win of a gold medal is far short of the achievement that the people in charge of British athletics would have us believe. One may well argue that no rules have been broken, and/or that the USA has a massively bigger pot from which to pick a team, but neither holds water, and we are morally corrupt. I should, however, point out that we are not alone. There are hundreds of examples of nations "importing" talent, but this does a complete disservice to all sports - for all sports have their problems in this regard, not just athletics.
The end result of all this is that national league tables for medal winners are flawed, and the integrity of national selection committees is fucked. Mercenary actions are not just endorsed, they're positively encouraged by some countries, usually with promises of status, and of course financial reward. I read a day or two ago that 50 of the 550 members of 'Team GB' are in fact foreign-born individuals, whose dual nationality option gives them a status that has allowed them to choose a course guaranteeing optimum success. As the GB team is (in many areas) rather shit, it's not surprising that incoming participants look quite good.
As I am typing this, Tuilagi has just scored a try for England against France in the Six Nations Rugby. You might be forgiven for thinking that it involves just 6 nationalities, but clearly not. I believe that Mr Tuilagi was born in Samoa, and entered the UK illegally. His appeal to avoid deportation was obviously successful and I rather wonder if it was so because of the promise he might have shown for the national prospects in rugby (?)
For once, I am not ending my comments with "This country is fucked" but instead with one that has a wider catchment.
The whole issue of nationality and international competition is fucked.
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