The Definition of "My Country"

Unpatriotic? Olympic Athletes hail from one nation, compete for another.

All the remarkable athletes. You know the athletes go to the Olympic to represent their countries, right? That’s clear from the parade of nations in the opening ceremony to the playing of the national anthem for gold medal winners. But Stephanie Saia reports the definition of what country an athlete belongs to is getting just a bit blurry.

The only thing Russian about Becky Hammon is her fanny pack. Everything else is apple-pie American.

“You know, I stand an honor of my country. Always my hand will be across my chest. I am one of those people that still believe the pledge of allegiance should be said in school every morning.”

But tomorrow the WNBA player from South Dakota will put a jersey on for Russia and play against the United States. Playing for an old Cold War enemy and being a formidable point guard, Hammon has brought the brunt of criticism. But she is among / countless athletes playing for other nations at the Games.

“Pretty sure, the Canadian / track and field teams of Nigeria?".

"Azerbaijan, for a lot Korean girls, that game had got them married to Azerbaijanis. /”

A French man won Togo’s first gold/ medal after only being to the African nation once. When people look to the Russia versus Georgia beach volleyball game for political metaphors, they realize the Georgian players were actually Brazilian. And the entire US table tennis team is from China, not to mention the woman’s volleyball coach. 33 foreign-born athletes are on team USA.

The Olympics have come to represent universal values of peace and friendship. But at the end of the day, it is a competition between nations. And some say those athletes that choose to play for other countries are traitors.

If you play in this country, live in this country, and grow up in the heartland, you know, if you put on a Russian uniform, you are not a patriotic person in my mind.

But Hammon says she did everything she could to get on the US team, it still wasn’t enough. When it became a choice between participating in the world’s greatest sporting event and watching from the sidelines, it was easy for 31-year-old Hammon.

If I was 26, 25, I probably wouldn't have made this decision to play for Russia, / I would held out and hope that United States would have come back around.

So Hammon chased her dream. There’s nothing more American than that, even if she had / chased it all the way to Russia.

Stephanie Saia, ABC news, Beijing.

很多奥运会运动员更改国籍，为其他国家而战。这是不爱国的表现吗？

所有的耀眼夺目的运动员。大家都知道，运动员是代表他们的国家参加奥运会的，对吗？从奥运会开幕式

上每个国家的代表仪仗队到为奥运金牌获得者奏响的国歌都可以得知，这是毫无疑问的。但是 Stephanie Saia的报道让我们对一个运动员的国籍感到越来越模糊。

对贝基哈蒙来讲，唯一能体现出和俄罗斯相关的地方只是她的队服，其他方面她仍然是一个彻底的美国人。

“你知道，我为我的祖国感到骄傲。我仍然会把手放在胸前，我仍然和所有美国人一样，相信那些上学的时候每天早上宣誓的忠诚的誓言。”

但是从明天开始这位来自南达科他州的WNBA运动员就将身着俄罗斯的战衣，和美国队相抗衡。为冷战时期的老对手而战，并且作为一个杰出的控球后卫，让哈蒙受到铺天盖地的批评。但是她只是众多更改国籍为他国而战的众多外籍兵团中的一员。

“确实如此，就好象尼日利亚的田径代表队里的加拿大运动员一样？”
“还有阿塞拜疆，很多韩国的姑娘们就因为更改国籍参加奥运会而嫁给了阿塞拜疆人。”
一个法国人由于去了多哥西非共和过一次，为这个国家赢得了第一枚金牌。当人们在俄罗斯对垒格鲁吉亚的沙滩排球中寻找政治喻意时，他们意识到其实格鲁吉亚的选手是不列颠人。美国所有的桌球选手都是来自中国，更不用说美国女子排球的教练。美国代表队中有33名外籍运动员。

奥运会代表和平和友谊，但是归根结底，它是国家之间的竞争。有人说那些更改国籍为其他国家而战的运动员是叛徒。

如果你在这个国家比赛，在这个国家生活，在这个国家的心脏地区长大，而你却穿上俄罗斯的制服，那么，在我的心里你就不是一个爱国的人。

但是哈蒙说，她曾尽最大努力留在美国队，但是仍然被教练排除在参赛名单之外。对于已经31岁的哈蒙来说，在参加世界上最大的体育盛事和做一个普通观众之间选择，是非常简单的事。

“如果我还是二十五六岁，可能我不会决定为俄罗斯而战，我会坚持等待下次机会，等待美国能够凯旋归来。”

所以哈蒙是在追求她的梦想。这正是她体现出美国人特点的方面，即使她为了追求这个梦想而投靠了俄罗斯。

patriotic 形容词 爱国的
blurry形容词 模糊的
污脏的;污斑的
formidable 形容词 可怕的,令人畏惧的
难以克服的,难对付的
巨大的;杰出的

metaphor 名词 隐喻(一种修辞法)
象征