Olympics: Skating for 2 different countries

Giselle · Feb 1, 2016

You often hear about skaters changing countries to have a chance to make the Olympics in "weaker" Countries. But there are skaters who make it to the Olympics for different countries.

Two example came to my mind:

Tatiana Volosozhar skated for Ukraine in 2006 and 2010. And for Russia in 2014.
Tatiana Navka skated for Belarus in 1994, 1998. And for Russia in 2002 and 2006.
Moniaak pointed out to me that Aliona Savchenko skated in 2002 for Ukraine. And for Germany in 2006, 2010, 2014.

Do you know about any other skater who made it to the Olympics for 2 different countries in their career?

I think both Allison Reed and Isabella Tobias are hoping to represent Israel in 2018 after skating for Geogia in 2010 and Lithuania in 2014 respectively. But I don't know if either of them have Israeli citizenship yet.

jcoates · Feb 1, 2016

Petrenko skated for the Soviet Uniion in 88; the Unified Team in 92; and Ukraine in 94. I would count the Soviet Union and Unified Teams as essentially Russian, so I would think he counted.

Rena Inoue skated singles for Japan in 94 and pairs for the US in 06.

On another note, while not an exact fit, it's worth noting that Todd Sand skated at 82 Worlds in singles for Denmark before competing for the US in Pairs in the 92, 94 and 98 Olympics.

brightphoton · Feb 1, 2016

I've never really liked country-hopping. It annoys the patriot in me. I have to admit that I do feel schadenfreude when athletes who transfer to "easier" countries end up not being able to achieve their goals due to the "easier" countries unexpectedly having pretty good talent.

Yes, yes, I understand that athletes want to make the Olympics/Worlds/international competition/more opportunities to compete.
1. I guess I do make an exception for pairs and ice dance teams who marry and their citizenship needs to switch.
2. I also make an exception for athletes who leave their original country and compete for the United States, because illogical patriotic feelings.

thegreendestiny · Feb 1, 2016

There are plenty of Ukrainian skaters and even on some ice skating related sports who moved to Russia because they have no funding in their countries.

Oksana Baiul would have done so back then but Ukraine still had some resources coming off freshly from the Soviet Union. Ukraine is now irrelevant in winter sports and soon to be sports in general because of the poor state of infrastructure and funding from their governments.

gravy · Feb 1, 2016

Elena Berezhnaya skated for Latvia with Oleg Shliakhov in 1994 and then for Russia with Anton Sikharulidze in 1998 and 2002.

Giselle · Feb 1, 2016

Thank you for all of the answers!

I didn't know that Rena Inoue's single career was that successful :clapper: !

It seems that all of the other examples (Except Petrenko) are people switching from "weaker" former soviet states to Russia.
So my point about switching to weaker countries was wrong actually!

peg · Feb 1, 2016

jcoates said:
Petrenko skated for the Soviet Uniion in 88; the Unified Team in 92; and Ukraine in 94. I would count the Soviet Union and Unified Teams as essentially Russian, so I would think he counted.

Petrenko never really changed countries. He was always essentially a Ukrainian skater. Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union until 1991. When the Soviet Union broke apart, the various Republics that had been part of the Soviet Union sent a Unified team to the 1992 Olympics rather than teams for the individual republics. By 1994, the republics sent athletes on their own.

The Soviet Union was not just Russia; it was something like 18 different Republics, and the majority of the people in those Republics never considered themselves Russian but rather had their own nationalities all along.

peg · Feb 1, 2016

Giselle said:
Thank you for all of the answers!

It seems that all of the other examples (Except Petrenko) are people switching from "weaker" former soviet states to Russia.
So my point about switching to weaker countries was wrong actually!

Many of those examples though are pairs skaters who would have had a hard time finding partners at their level in a weaker skating country. Pairs (and to some degree ice dancers) go to where they can find a suitable partner. It's a different situation for singles skaters, where often those who would not qualify for an Olympic spot in a strong skating country switch to another country. One that comes to mind is Nicole Rajicova who was born in the US and skated there initially. Also, Keegan Messing switched the skating for Canada because the men's field is not as deep.

And if you want a real country hopper, I give you Mervin Tran. Although he never skated for Japan in the Olympics due to citizenship issues, he did skate for them internationally, even reaching the world podium. Then he skated internationally for Canada (for one season), and now he skates for the US. This guy gets around :laugh:

lyndichee · Feb 1, 2016

peg said:
Many of those examples though are pairs skaters who would have had a hard time finding partners at their level in a weaker skating country. Pairs (and to some degree ice dancers) go to where they can find a suitable partner. It's a different situation for singles skaters, where often those who would not qualify for an Olympic spot in a strong skating country switch to another country. One that comes to mind is Nicole Rajicova who was born in the US and skated there initially. Also, Keegan Messing switched the skating for Canada because the men's field is not as deep.

And if you want a real country hopper, I give you Mervin Tran. Although he never skated for Japan in the Olympics due to citizenship issues, he did skate for them internationally, even reaching the world podium. Then he skated internationally for Canada (for one season), and now he skates for the US. This guy gets around

Haha Mervin Tran is definitely a country hopper. He has just had so much bad luck with partners.

Lots of girls from the US seem to like to country hop. Piper Gilles' sister Alexe Gilles hopped from US to Canada. Isadora Williams of Brazil is actually from the US and has Brazil citizenship through her mother. Brooklee Han was actually born in the US. Melissa Bulanhagui used to skate in the US but switched to the Philippines after a while.

Piper Gilles and Kaitlyn Weaver are actually from the US.

Others I know of include:
Ronald Lam skated in Canada for a bit and then Hong Kong.
Cathy and Chris Reed skated for the US before Japan.
Misha Ge is not from Uzbekistan, he is Russian, Chinese and Korean apparently. Born in Russia, lives in China.

Edit: A little bit of a high jack considering none of these skaters represented 2 countries at the Olympics I think... :scratch2:

peg · Feb 1, 2016

lyndichee said:
Haha Mervin Tran is definitely a country hopper. He has just had so much bad luck with partners.

Lots of girls from the US seem to like to country hop. Piper Gilles' sister Alexe Gilles hopped from US to Canada. Isadora Williams of Brazil is actually from the US and has Brazil citizenship through her mother. Brooklee Han was actually born in the US. Melissa Bulanhagui used to skate in the US but switched to the Philippines after a while.

Piper Gilles and Kaitlyn Weaver are actually from the US.

Others I know of include:
Ronald Lam skated in Canada for a bit and then Hong Kong.
Cathy and Chris Reed skated for the US before Japan.
Misha Ge is not from Uzbekistan, he is Russian, Chinese and Korean apparently. Born in Russia, lives in China.

Edit: A little bit of a high jack considering none of these skaters represented 2 countries at the Olympics I think...

Kaitlyn Weaver was payback for Tanith Belbin, who is actually Canadian but skated for the US

You've given some great examples of single skaters born in a strong country skating for someplace where they have better chances of getting to Worlds and Olympics. I do consider pairs and dance to be in a somewhat different situation though, because they also need to find a compatible partner at their level

lyndichee · Feb 1, 2016

peg said:
Kaitlyn Weaver was payback for Tanith Belbin, who is actually Canadian but skated for the US

You've given some great examples of single skaters born in a strong country skating for someplace where they have better chances of getting to Worlds and Olympics. I do consider pairs and dance to be in a somewhat different situation though, because they also need to find a compatible partner at their level

Wow I somehow came up with obscure examples yet I forgot Tanith. Shame on me haha.

Definitely pairs and dance are a completely different situation. I do hope Mervin can finally make the Olympics in 2018. Maybe the new rivalry between Scimeca/Knierim and Kayne/O'Shea will get US 3 berths to the Olympics.

rollerblade · Feb 1, 2016

Off topic, but TIL Yuko Kavaguti competed in the US Nationals in 2005-06 season (placed 15th).

SarahSynchro · Feb 1, 2016

I've actually wondered to myself what it may have been like if Tanith Belbin remained a Canadian citizen and competed with Andrew Poje, and if Kaitlyn Weaver remained American and competed with Ben Agsto, hahaha. The things we skating fans dream up sometimes.

Edited to say that I do realize Kaitlyn and Andrew wouldn't have been at the same skill level as Ben and Tanith in the early 2000s. Just a random pipe dream that could never happen, is all.

4everchan · Feb 1, 2016

what about tanith and paul ?

I think though Piper has the right personality for Paul though.

SarahSynchro said:
I've actually wondered to myself what it may have been like if Tanith Belbin remained a Canadian citizen and competed with Andrew Poje, and if Kaitlyn Weaver remained American and competed with Ben Agsto, hahaha. The things we skating fans dream up sometimes.

Edited to say that I do realize Kaitlyn and Andrew wouldn't have been at the same skill level as Ben and Tanith in the early 2000s. Just a random pipe dream that could never happen, is all.

4everchan · Feb 1, 2016

the men's field in Canada may not be as deep but Keegan is still not going to be on the podium... maybe he was hoping Chan and Reynolds were out for good.

peg said:
Many of those examples though are pairs skaters who would have had a hard time finding partners at their level in a weaker skating country. Pairs (and to some degree ice dancers) go to where they can find a suitable partner. It's a different situation for singles skaters, where often those who would not qualify for an Olympic spot in a strong skating country switch to another country. One that comes to mind is Nicole Rajicova who was born in the US and skated there initially. Also, Keegan Messing switched the skating for Canada because the men's field is not as deep.

And if you want a real country hopper, I give you Mervin Tran. Although he never skated for Japan in the Olympics due to citizenship issues, he did skate for them internationally, even reaching the world podium. Then he skated internationally for Canada (for one season), and now he skates for the US. This guy gets around

SarahSynchro · Feb 1, 2016

4everchan said:
what about tanith and paul ? I think though Piper has the right personality for Paul though.

Oh right, I didn't even consider that possibility! :laugh:

Actually I think I never thought of Paul with Tanith because he's a lot younger than she is (born in 1991 vs 1984). Andrew (1987) seemed more likely.

peg · Feb 1, 2016

4everchan said:
the men's field in Canada may not be as deep but Keegan is still not going to be on the podium... maybe he was hoping Chan and Reynolds were out for good.

But he did make the national team last year, something he never accomplished in the US. And yes, he was probably hoping that Patrick and Kevin wouldn't return

4everchan · Feb 1, 2016

wow!!!! i always thought paul and andrew were closer in age since well Paul was placing ahead of Weapo when he was with Crone...

SarahSynchro said:
Oh right, I didn't even consider that possibility!

Actually I think I never thought of Paul with Tanith because he's a lot younger than she is (born in 1991 vs 1984). Andrew (1987) seemed more likely.

blue_idealist · Feb 1, 2016

SarahSynchro said:
Oh right, I didn't even consider that possibility!

Actually I think I never thought of Paul with Tanith because he's a lot younger than she is (born in 1991 vs 1984). Andrew (1987) seemed more likely.

I think Tanith would maybe be too tall for Paul, too. I don't know their exact heights but Paul looks much shorter than a lot of the other male ice dancers.

lyndichee · Feb 1, 2016

blue_idealist said:
I think Tanith would maybe be too tall for Paul, too. I don't know their exact heights but Paul looks much shorter than a lot of the other male ice dancers.

Tanith is 168cm according to Google.

Paul is 174cm

Ben is 175cm. Don't think there is much of a difference but Paul is great at lifts.

Olympics: Skating for 2 different countries

Giselle

jcoates

brightphoton

thegreendestiny

gravy

¿No ven quién soy yo?

Giselle

peg

peg

lyndichee

peg

lyndichee

rollerblade

SarahSynchro

4everchan

4everchan

SarahSynchro

peg

4everchan

blue_idealist

lyndichee

Similar threads

Connect with us