Great Olympians - Nationalities
A Nationality is a characteristic for a given person, which does not change
during someone's lifetime (although there are many exceptions to this - see
the list).
On the other hand, countries do often change name, countries split or merge,
territories change allegiance. Through that process, many athletes
have changed the country they represent from one Olympiad to another.
These athletes are always listed as having one single nationality,
throughout their Olympic career.
This one nationality is expressed in present-day terms. Thus, the athletes
representing Bohemia in the early 1900's are listed as "Czech" nationals,
even if they would never have dreamt there would ever be something like a
"Czech Republic".
In almost all cases (starting in 1906), it is clear which nation a particular
athlete represented. It is the nation whose National Olympic Committee
sent him to the Olympic Games. An athlete's nationality is not so straightforward
though.
In deciding on the nationality of an athlete, I have followed the following
rules :
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The nationality is always determined by the country represented. When an
athlete changes nationality after his Olympic Career, this is not noted in
the lists
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When a represented country has merged with one or more others, the new
nationality is that of the greater country. All East (and West) Germans are
listed under the German nationality.
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When a represented country has split in two or more other countries, the
athletes that represented that country in any previous Olympiad will receive
one of the new nationalities. The criteria used for this can vary from
case to case and include, in order of preference:
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Country later represented at the Olympics
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Country represented in any other sporting event
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Country represented in internal competition
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Country of residence, or nationality, immediately after the split
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Language, or even Religion
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Place of Birth
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In some cases, I have used the "nephew" rule. For that, I imagine that the
athlete has a brother, one year younger than him, and not a sportsman. That
brother has a son or (great-)grandson, who lives today. Neither the brother
nor his offspring have done anything special, and the current-day nationality
of the nephew determines the nationality of his (great-)(grand-)uncle. That
way we can distinguish between people whose parents have emigrated and people
who have emigrated themselves. The rule is useful in deciding that the Smyrna
team of 1906 should be classed as Greek (Smyrna, in present-day Turkey, was
a Greek city at the time. All Greek nationals were forced to emigrate after
1923)
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below are a few special cases :
Years |
NOC |
Region/City |
History |
Nationality |
Athletes |
1896-
1906 |
Great Britain |
Ireland |
independent after 1922 |
Ireland |
Ireland (1896),
Ireland (1900),
Ireland (1904),
Ireland (1906) |
1908 |
Northern Ireland |
part of Great Britain |
Great Britain |
R. C. Robb
David Stevenson
Francis Guy |
1896,
1906 |
Hungary |
Slovakia |
part of Czechoslovakia after 1918,
Slovakia since 1993 |
Slovakia |
Aljoz Szokol,
Juraj Luntzer |
1896,
1906 |
Vojvodina |
part of Yugoslavia after 1918,
Serbia since 1991 |
Serbia |
Momcilo Tapavica,
Sztantics György |
1906 |
Cluj |
part of Romania after 1918,
Hungarian population still present |
Romania |
István Somodi |
1896,
1906 |
Ottoman Empire |
Smyrna,
Pergamum,
Constantinopel |
part of Turkey after 1922,
all Greeks emigrated to Greece,
foreign nationals counted in their
own nationality,
Turk counted as Turkish |
Greece |
Loverdos,
Dimitrios Tombrof,
Greece (1906) |
Armenia |
Zareck Couyoumdzian |
France |
France |
Great Britain |
Great Britain |
Turkey |
Vahran Papazyan |
1906 |
Thessaloniki,
Crete,
Samos |
part of Greece after 1922 |
Greece |
Greece (1906) |
1896,
1906 |
Cyprus |
British after 1922
Independent after 1960 |
Cyprus |
Anastasios Andreou,
Cyprus (1906) |
1900 |
Austria |
Croatia |
part of Yugoslavia after 1918,
Croatia since 1991 |
Croatia |
Milan Neralic |
1906 |
Silesia |
part of Poland after 1918 |
Poland |
Otto Scheff |
1900 |
France |
Algeria |
independent 1961 |
Algeria |
Algeria (1900) |
1904 |
Canada |
Newfoundland |
part of Canada since 1949 |
Canada |
Bob Fowler |
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Special cases :
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Algeria - in 1900, 4 athletes from Algeria participated
as French nationals
-
Armenia - in 1906, 1 athlete from Armenia competed
in the team from the city of Smyrna
-
Austria - before 1914, Austria included territories
now in Czechia, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy and Poland. One Polish competitor
is listed from this age, as a Polish national
-
Sudetenland (Coxed Fours)
-
Cyprus - in 1896 and 1906, athletes from Cyprus competed.
Cyprus was then a part of the Ottoman Empire
-
Czech Republic - includes athletes from Bohemia (1900-12)
-
Egypt - in 1896 and 1906, Greek athletes from Alexandria
competed. They are listed as Egyptians
-
Finland - before 1914, Finland was a part of Russia,
but it did send a separate delegation. Vyborg: Alppo
Asikainen, Kalle Ekholm,
Antti Tamminen, Harry
Wahl, Waldemar Björkstén,
Jacob Björnström,
Bror Brenner, Allan
Franck, Erik Lindh,
Juho Aarne Pekkalainen - Karelia:
Aarne Pelkonen
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Gernamy - Poland: Many Germans lived in parts of what
are now Poland (including Danzig - Gdansk), Russia and even Lithuania.
Karl Bechler, Arthur
Hoffmann, Heinrich Hoffmann,
Benno Wandolleck,
Walther Binner, Georg
Kunisch, Oswald Rathmann,
Georg Warsow, Walter
Bathe, Erwin von Sigel,
Sigismund Freyer, Max
Bröske
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Hungary - Romania: Cluj is a Hungarian city in present-day
Romania. Even today there are many Hungarian speakers in this town. I consider
Hungarians (pre-1914) who came from this town as Romanian.
Somodi István
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Iceland - in 1908 and 1912, Iceland was a part of
Denmark, and Icelandic athletes competed in the Danish team.
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Ireland - before 1914, Ireland was a part of the
United Kingdom and Irish athletes competed in the British teams
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Italy - contained parts of Slovenia before WWII,
but five rowers from Isola are regarded as Italians nevertheless
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New Zealand - in 1908 and 1912, New Zealand atheletes
competed together with Australians in a team called Australasia.
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Poland - before 1914, parts of Poland belonged to
Austria, and parts to Russia. Two Polish competitors are listed from
this age, as Polish nationals
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Slovakia - in 1896, one athlete participating for
Hungary was from Slovakia; in 1912 there were several.
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Turkey - in 1896 and 1906, several athletes competed
from the Ottoman Empire, but most of them were Greek nationals, and they
are listed as Greeks, even those from Smyrna, Constantinopel and Pergamum,
then cities with great Greek populations, but now wholly in Turkey. All Greek
nationals were removed from the Turkish mainland in 1923. One competitor
from Constantinopel in 1906 was a Turk, however.
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Yugoslavia - in 1896, one athlete participating for
Hungary was from Vojvodina, now a part of Yugoslavia; in 1912, Serbia sent
2 athletes.
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people that switched Nationalities
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Isle of Man: Sidney Swann
Written 2001-03-09 - last modified 2010-12-22
This page is part of the site "Full Olympians" by Herman De Wael. See here
for a full Introduction.