Olympinonsense

[ahinton]

Being born in Ghent hardly makes him a Belgian anymore than my uncle George being born in Lucknow makes him an Indian. It just means their mothers were there at the time. I think it was Spike Milligan who said "if a cat has kittens in an oven it doesn't make them buns"

If it was, I wonder if he derived that from Sorabji's retort to those who questioned his background that "a kitten born in a kennel isn't a puppy"?...

[ahinton]

(a) Being born in Britain

or

(b) At least one parent born in Britain and at least 50% of the competitor's childhood (Age 0-16) spent in Britain.

That seems somewhat unfair to British citizens who were born and/or spent more than 50% of their time up to age 16 outside Britain, surely? (not that you make the rules, I know, but...)

[Lateralthinking1]

That seems somewhat unfair to British citizens who were born and/or spent more than 50% of their time up to age 16 outside Britain, surely? (not that you make the rules, I know, but...)

I assume you are referring to dependencies etc. I would define those born in British dependencies as "British born" and hence able to qualify for Team GB. That is, unless they were born somewhere which had its own Olympics team in which case they wouldn't qualify for Team GB.

I was asked to explain my position more fully. This I have done. Coming as it does from a member of the public, it is arbitrary compared with the no doubt complex rules of British citizenship. I doubt though that the rules governing qualification for Team GB are any less arbitrary.

My view remains that if you were born in Iceland, to parents both born in Iceland, and all of you moved to West London when you were 13 so that you could learn to row at Eton Dorney, you should not qualify for Team GB at the age of 18 or any time after. This is not about exclusion. It is about being fair to the country of origin. The same should also apply in reverse, ie to Britain.

[Anna]

My view remains that if you were born in Iceland, to parents both born in Iceland, and all of you moved to West London when you were 13 so that you could learn to row at Eton Dorney, you should not qualify for Team GB at the age of 18 or any time after. This is not about exclusion. It is about being fair to the country of origin. The same should also apply in reverse, ie to Britain.

So, poor little Magnus from Iceland, proving to be absolutely useless at rowing and being kicked out of Eton takes up horse riding. He marries a Welsh girl, lives in Scotland, is considered the best horseman ever and at the age of 54 is selected for the GB equestrian dressage team for the 2052 Games and then - is banned from competing and told to join the Icelandic dressage team because he has not spent 50% of his childhood (0-16) in Britain? I'm just teasing you Lat but the rules you want to apply aren't really practical, particulary when you apply to those seeking asylum as, for example, political refugees who cannot return, or those who come to athletics late, one of the GB rowers was 37
(the oldest member of the GB equestrian team was actually 59 I think)

[Lateralthinking1]

So, poor little Magnus from Iceland, proving to be absolutely useless at rowing and being kicked out of Eton takes up horse riding. He marries a Welsh girl, lives in Scotland, is considered the best horseman ever and at the age of 54 is selected for the GB equestrian dressage team for the 2052 Games and then - is banned from competing and told to join the Icelandic dressage team because he has not spent 50% of his childhood (0-16) in Britain? I'm just teasing you Lat but the rules you want to apply aren't really practical, particulary when you apply to those seeking asylum as, for example, political refugees who cannot return, or those who come to athletics late, one of the GB rowers was 37
(the oldest member of the GB equestrian team was actually 59 I think)

The irony probably being that the 2052 Olympic city turns out to be Rekyavik.

Anna - Good as it is, would you in future please try to find less solid arguments?