All those without one
June 1, 2016 2:11 PM   Subscribe

 
!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 2:57 PM on June 1, 2016 [1 favorite]


Weird and poignant. Bittersweet.

Is somebody making a flag?
posted by amtho at 3:04 PM on June 1, 2016 [2 favorites]


Too bad they can't be picked up under nationality transfers which seems to favor folks who don't really need to be relocating. Apparently the US has an official process for this.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 3:04 PM on June 1, 2016


The IOC is even covering their expenses. I don't know how to react to the fact that the IOC is doing something morally decent. Brazil is where hamburgers eat people, apparently.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 3:20 PM on June 1, 2016 [20 favorites]


Bravo. Next, give them a seat at the United Nations.
posted by beagle at 3:25 PM on June 1, 2016 [25 favorites]


What a wonderful idea - and beagle's suggestion is even better.
posted by Paul Slade at 3:32 PM on June 1, 2016 [1 favorite]


I expect they'll march under the IOC flag, same as previous independent athletes at the Olympics have done. The difference here is that they're considering them to be a coherent team in their own right rather than a collection of unrelated individuals.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 3:44 PM on June 1, 2016 [2 favorites]


Re UN: I suppose a symbolic seat in a powerless organization couldn't hurt.
posted by jpe at 3:55 PM on June 1, 2016


I don't know how to react to the fact that the IOC is doing something morally decent.

I'm experiencing the same cognitive and emotional dissonance.
posted by Superplin at 4:15 PM on June 1, 2016 [7 favorites]


I like this. Reminds me of the 1992 Unified team for former Soviet bloc athletes.
posted by ApathyGirl at 4:42 PM on June 1, 2016


I don't know how to react to the fact that the IOC is doing something morally decent.

C'mon people, it's the IOC, not FIFA.
posted by Bringer Tom at 4:44 PM on June 1, 2016 [2 favorites]


I don't know how to react to the fact that the IOC is doing something morally decent.

I mean these athletes are still going to have to row through feces and get zika.
posted by aaronetc at 4:52 PM on June 1, 2016 [14 favorites]


I don't know how to react to the fact that the IOC is doing something morally decent.

If this costs the IOC $100,000 all told, I'll eat my hat. The London games cost $14 billion. Let's round the cost for 10 athletes up to $140,000 and you're looking at spending 0.001% of the cost for some priceless PR.

I'm glad that these athletes get to compete. This doesn't make the IOC less corrupt, or the Olympics any less than a bad deal (generally) for the people of the host country.
posted by sparklemotion at 9:08 PM on June 1, 2016 [1 favorite]


It's a wonderful idea! The CS article seems to conflate statelessness with refugee status though. Not all stateless persons are refugees, and not all refugees are stateless. Refugees who have become nationals of their country of refuge do have a national team to belong to (e.g.), although I understand if a refugee would prefer to represent an olympic team of refugees more than the team of his or her country of refuge!
posted by ageispolis at 4:56 AM on June 2, 2016


Can one get a jersey? What a great team to root for.
posted by mahorn at 3:05 PM on June 3, 2016


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