Opinion | Inside Incheon: Foreign raiders like Ruth Jebet make a mockery of system
Kenya-born runner wins for adopted Bahrain, but permanent Hong Kong residents are denied
How to buy a country's way to a gold medal is best illustrated by the Ruth Jebet fiasco. The tale of the 17-year-old Kenyan-born runner who was turning out for Bahrain is solid proof rich countries are thumbing their noses at the spirit of the Games and buying glory at the expense of developing their own athletes.
Jebet, the junior world champion, was first stripped of her gold medal after her steeplechase victory late on Saturday night for putting a foot outside the track. She was then reinstated following a protest by the Bahrain team.
She is one of many African athletes who have switched allegiance for the sake of financial security. You can't blame her, for she is only looking after her own welfare and that of her family.
The system is unfair and something needs to be done, and someone should do it
But a finger must be pointed at Bahrain and other oil-rich Gulf States, which openly flout the spirit of these Games by buying their way to a gold medal. Last February, Jebet was running for Kenya. Today, she is carrying the flag for Bahrain, and all this in a few months?
How can the Olympic Council of Asia allow this cynical practice whereby a country gives an athlete a passport and nationality in return for winning gold at a major international event?
For years we have seen African athletes moving to the rich Gulf States where they are given life-changing riches in return for winning glory and recognition for their adopted country.
It is not only the Arab countries doing it; even more established sporting nations like Britain did it. At the London Olympics, eyebrows were raised when the host nation had in their midst Yamile Aldama, a Cuban triple-jumper who had competed for Sudan at the 2004 Olympics. The British team also had three US-born athletes who were dubbed the "Plastic Brits".