Oh My - four Jamaican Olympians switch allegiance to

[malaise]

Last edited Fri Jun 20, 2025, 10:56 AM - Edit history (1)

Turkey.
WTF?

This article says two but it’s four
https://sportsmax.tv/athletics/tuerkiyes-secret-bid-to-recruit-elite-jamaican-athletes-ahead-of-la-2028

[DinahMoeHum]

1. Sadly, it's about the money. . .

https://sportsmax.tv/athletics/opinion-the-price-of-allegiance-jamaicas-talent-drain-to-turkey-raises-alarming-questions

Track and field, unlike many major global sports, does not guarantee long-term wealth. A handful of superstars might land multi-year shoe deals, but those contracts are typically structured with low base payments and aggressive performance incentives. One injury, one poor season, and the bottom can fall out. For athletes in their prime, especially those not named Bolt or Fraser-Pryce, financial security is far from guaranteed.

So when an opportunity arises offering half a million U.S. dollars up front, consistent income, and performance bonuses that could potentially transform not just an athlete’s life but their entire family’s future—it’s not betrayal. It’s business. It’s survival. It’s a decision that, in the cold, hard light of day, many of us might make if we were in their spikes.

Yet, while their decision is understandable, it raises troubling questions for Jamaica’s track and field future.

[brush]

3. Thanks for the suberb analysis, it makes the situation that athletes are in more understandable.

Unfortunately it's Jamaica's loss, but a gain for the US and other countires developing strong sprint programs.

[3catwoman3]

2. Unless one has legitimate dual citizenship...

…or family ties, this kind of thing seems like a rather hollow triumph to me. Not for the athletes, but for the recruiting countries.

[malaise]

4. Sadly across the planet

Citizenship is now for profit.
If everything is for profit, neo-liberalism destroys all the rights citizens assume in a social contract.
Loyalty to country is now dead.