Olympic athletes’ “flag of convenience”

During these winter Olympics, there seem to be more and more athletes living and training in one country, for example the United States, and choosing to represent another country on the basis of their double-nationality status.

For the most part (except for Eileen Feng Gu, freestyle skier in halfpipe, slopestyle, and big air events), these athletes would never make their own country of residence’s national team, and still get a ticket to the Olympics by competing for a third party nation like the Philippes for instance where the standards of entry are low enough for them. 

I think this is another way to muddy the waters and hurt the already poor credibility of the games. Well, I’d say that if Haiti or Thailand have no local skiers because there’s no snow there, tough luck! That’s the way the planet works, and its many countries should embrace that reality... 

Practically, I would urge the International Olympic Committee to add a full residency requirement in order to curb this type of funny business. 

Do you agree?