Turkey sent 14 track and field athletes to the 2024 Olympics in Paris, and none of their athletes finished higher than 16th. In less than a month, they’ve trebucheted themselves into a global athletics hub, signing at least five athletes poised to be in contention for Olympic medals in 2028—including four Jamaicans.
Public opinion is often highly critical of athletes who switch their nationality, especially the opinion of the people in the countries they choose to leave. Citizens often see the decision as treasonous, disregarding the true motivating factors.
It’s perhaps right to criticize Turkey and other countries, such as Bahrain, that pay huge sums to incentivize athletes to transfer countries. The idea that athletes are property they can buy for political motivation is undoubtedly a problem in the sport, but it’s unfair to blame the athletes seeking better opportunities.
The Financial Reality
Switching allegiances is the only hope of making a livable income for many athletes, who may age out of the sport by the time they reach 30. For every Usain Bolt who makes millions per year, there are hundreds of other elite professionals struggling to support themselves.
Countless stories have emerged of athletes ranked inside the top 20 in the world who have to work full-time while competing. A recent example is Jacory Patterson, who recently won the Grand Slam Track Miami in the 400-meter while working a truck-loading job for UPS from 10:45 p.m. until 4 or 4:30 a.m.
Jamaican bronze medallist from the 2024 Olympics, Rajindra Campbell, and discus gold medallist, Rojé Stona, are among the recent Jamaicans to allegedly switch allegiance to Turkey. Both received signing bonuses of $500,000 and monthly stipends to compete for Turkey, confirmed by Reuters.
Allegedly joining them are the 2024 Olympic silver medalist in the long jump, Wayne Pinnock, and the World U20 record holder in the triple jump, Jaydon Hibbert. It hasn’t been confirmed whether they’ll receive the same bonus, but presumably it will be comparable.
Some may criticize these athletes for “selling out,” perhaps mistakenly believing that most top athletes are living the lavish lifestyle you’d expect of football or NBA stars. But for some of these athletes, the signing bonus alone may be more than they will receive from the rest of their career.
Navigating Bureaucracy
We don’t get to choose what country we are born into, and unfortunately for most athletes, that means they don’t get to choose which federation they have to deal with. It’s no secret that some federations do better at supporting their athletes than others.
The Nigerian federation, in particular, has been under fire in recent years. Ahead of the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, the Nigerian Federation failed to meet the minimum drug testing requirements for 10 of its athletes, who were ineligible to compete despite qualifying.
Favour Ofili was among the 10 athletes who had to put their Olympic dreams on hold.
Ofili would finally get a chance to run at the Olympic Games last summer in the 200-meter, finishing sixth, but had to watch the 100 meters from the stands as the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) and Nigeria Olympic Committee made another administrative error that kept her from competing—mistakenly failing to register her for the event.
Ofili was compensated with $5,000 for the error, but the AFN claimed innocence and later called her an “uncontrollable athlete.”
She has reportedly switched alliances from Nigeria to Turkey as of May 31. In Ofili’s cases, the motivation seems to be mostly motivated by “professional frustrations.”
Better Life
For some athletes, the decision to switch allegiances comes down to escaping bleak economic conditions. Cuban athletes have a long history of defecting at international events. For them, athletics often offers the only hope to escape poverty, especially with the decline of several key industries in recent years, such as tourism and sugar production.
All three men who finished on the podium in the triple jump at the 2024 Olympics (Pedro Pichardo, Andy Diaz, and Jordan Diaz) originally come from Cuba and now compete for Portugal, Italy, and Spain, respectively, and each has their own stories of how they came to Europe. According to a 2024 article published in Italian on Olympics.com:
“For several months, [Andy Diaz] was homeless, sleeping on the sidewalk in front of the immigration office in Rome, so as not to lose his place in line, hoping to obtain a temporary residence permit.”
Olympic Silver Medallist from 2021, Miguel Echevarría, and bronze medallist Yaimé Pérez are just two more examples of Cuban athletes who have defected.
The Cuban Athletics Federation has accused these athletes of “acting out of greed,” but it’s undeniable that these athletes would only risk defecting if they felt their circumstances at home were hopeless.
Is There a Solution?
As much as I hate to point out a problem without offering a solution, paid athletic transfers are likely to remain a part of the sport for as long as there’s an economic divide between countries. The blame shouldn’t lie on the athletes, but on the economic situation that surrounds the sport.
The idea of switching allegiances is a problem in track and field, and a problem that doesn’t have an easy solution. Banning transfers will hurt the athletes more than the Federations that are willing to pay athletes to compete under their flags.
Perhaps rather than trying to stop it, the IOC or World Athletics should regulate these transfers so that the host federations pay into a revenue-sharing pot used to support the less-funded federations, with strict rules of how the money has to be used.
Of course, this has the problem of creating corruption and does nothing to address the economic divide between countries. But perhaps it could be a first step.
