When medals matter more than flags: Inside the rise of Olympic nationality swaps
By Brian C. Joondeph | Commentary, American Thinker
The Winter Olympics have wrapped up, reportedly drawing their highest ratings since Sochi in 2014. I didn't watch. Between niche “sports” invented to fill broadcast hours and athletes apologizing for the country they represent, the Games increasingly feel less like national competition and more like a global spectacle.
But the larger issue isn’t ski mountaineering or media melodrama. It’s nationality itself.
Twelve years ago, during the Sochi Olympics, I wrote about what I called “nationality fluidity” - athletes competing for countries far removed from where they were born or trained. American-born siblings skating for Japan. An Italian competing for Germany. A Vermont native skatin...