Nomadic nationalities

ATHENS — In victory lap after victory lap, Olympic medalists have wrapped themselves in the flags of their countries, wearing them like robes, capes, scarves or sarongs in colorful displays of pride for the homeland.

But in an increasing number of cases, athletes have barely set foot in the countries they represent. They don’t even speak the native tongue, which can turn the traditional playing of the national anthem into an awkwardly mute moment on the podium.

While the Games have always been sports’ supreme showcase of nationalism, Olympic identities are becoming muddled for romantic, immigratory or financial reasons. Part of the reason is globalization, and part of it is free agency.

Felix Sanchez wore the red singlet of the Dominican Republic as he sped to victory in the 400-meter hurdles on Friday even though he was born in New York, grew up in San Diego and ran in Santo Domingo for the first time at last summer’s Pan American Games.

Sanya Richards of Pembroke Pines, Fla., anchored the U.S. 4x400 relay Saturday. She spent the first 12 years of her life in Jamaica, but moved to South Florida to further her track career and felt a stronger connection to her adopted country.

Yamile Aldama was a Cuban triple jumper who married a British man and moved to London. He wound up in prison and she could not get citizenship in her new country of residence in time for the Athens Games. Sudan offered her an instant passport, and she competed in the uniform of the war-torn nation. She finished fifth — and set a national record.

Conspicuously absent from the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase was Qatar’s Saif Saaeed Shaheen, who was born Stephen Cherono in the Rift Valley of Kenya. Just before winning the 2003 world championship, Cherono agreed to change his name and nationality for Qatar, an oil-rich but athlete-poor Persian Gulf emirate that enticed him with a $1 million signing bonus, a $1,000 weekly salary and an additional $1 million prize for winning worlds.

Qatar entered him in the Olympics, but the Kenyan Olympic Committee, citing an International Olympic Committee rule, blocked his release. While Shaheen watched, three of his former countrymen swept the medals.

Qatar and nine Bulgarian weightlifters cut a $1 million deal prior to the 2000 Sydney Games in which they would be paid to compete as Qatari citizens. Said Asaad, formerly Angel Popov, won a bronze medal.

Rule No. 46 of the Olympic charter is designed to prevent athlete-hiring by countries and country-shopping by athletes. It states that an athlete must wait three years when switching to a new nation unless the old one grants a waiver.

But the rule doesn’t have much teeth if countries grant releases without scrutinizing the motivation of the national Olympic committee and the athlete. It can become a political tug of war, as it did in the case of kayaker Angel Perez, a Cuban Olympian who defected to Miami. He set a precedent at the Sydney Games when he and his lawyer persuaded the Court of Arbitration for Sport to overrule Cuba and allow him to compete for the United States.

“It’s a customary courtesy for the first country to let the athlete go,” said Jim Page, the USOC managing director of Games performance. “Angel was the only case where we had to fight it.”

In the case of gymnast Annia Hatch, who competed for Cuba as Annia Portuondo, then married an American and moved to Connecticut, the international gymnastics federation intervened to force Cuba to allow her to compete for the United States. She won a team silver medal and silver medal on vault in Athens wearing the red, white and blue, and said she “felt proud to win this as both a Cuban and a Latina-American.”

Wilson Kipketer, regarded as the world’s best all-time 800-meter runner, was born in Kenya and has been living in Denmark since he started college there in 1990. Kenyan resistance and Danish red tape kept him out of the 1996 Games. He finished third in Athens.

The IOC rule is also supposed to prevent wealthy nations from raiding the talent of poor ones. But often athletes can’t resist the financial rewards or improved training conditions in countries willing to enlist their talent. Nigerian sprinters Glory Alozie and Francis Obikwelu now compete for Spain and Portugal, respectively.

“There’s not much we can do if a country or a sports federation does not bring the issue to our executive board,” said IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies.

Athletic mercenaries are not just a modern phenomenon. In the fifth century, the city-state of Syracuse recruited sprinter Astylos from Kroton.

But not all flag-jumping is motivated by money.

Merlene Ottey, a six-time Olympian and national hero in Jamaica, is, at age 44, wearing the Slovenian uniform here. She had trained in Europe for years and married a Slovenian, then made the change after a dispute with her national track federation, which had pressured her to retire. Until recently she kept signing autographs with her name and the word “Jamaica” attached out of habit. Not anymore.

“At first it felt odd to wear this uniform but I’ve gotten used to it,” she said.

Chinese table tennis champion He Zhili was kept out of the 1988 Olympics for refusing to throw a match. She married a Japanese man, changed her name to Chire Koyama and competed for Japan in the 1992 and 1996 Olympics. China has such deep talent in the sport that 10 nations in Athens had China-born players on their rosters.

Some small nations, such as Sudan, have shown eagerness to expedite citizenship for athletes. Boxer Andre Berto of Orlando, the son of Haitian immigrants, was on the U.S. team, but didn’t get an Olympic spot after a controversial loss in the trials. He got a Haitian passport within three months.

“Even though I still feel American, this whole situation has allowed me to get closer to my roots and given me extra motivation,” said Berto, who lost in the early going here. “The only thing awkward is that I didn’t get to be with my old American teammates. It feels a little strange to be wearing a uniform that doesn’t say USA.”

Kayaker Rami Zur was born in Berkeley, Calif., and given up for adoption to an Israeli couple living on a kibbutz on the Sea of Galilee. He competed for Israel at the 2000 Olympics, but after making contact with his birth mother, who has since died, and visiting the U.S. Olympic Training Center, he decided to take advantage of his dual citizenship, acquire a U.S. passport and move to California.

“In Israel, I found it impossible to train, go to college and work at the same time,” said Zur, who competed here in the K-1 and K-2 500 races. “In the U.S., I can survive financially. I talked to the Israeli Olympic Committee and they understood. Sports doesn’t get as much emphasis over there.”