What I'm trying to say is that the tail is wagging the dog. Someone should abandon his/her citizenship for the sake of a sports contest???
I went to the
Olympic site to try to find the mission or purpose. I did find:
The Olympic Games are competitions between athletes in individual or team events and not between countries. They bring together athletes designated by their respective National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and whose entries have been accepted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). They compete under the technical direction of the International Sports Federations (IFs) concerned.
The first sentence, "The Olympic Games are competitions between athletes in individual or team events and not between countries," would seem to support your suggestion, as would the first half of the second "They bring together athletes designated by their respective National Olympic Committees (NOCs)", i.e, if it was okay with NOCs to have non-citizen team members in any 2+ person entry, it should be okay with the IOC.
The upside is that athletes could field the strongest teams in pairs and ice dance, football, yachting, double sculls, synchronized swimming, team handball, bobsledding, etc., as long as:
a. The team met the minimum citizenship participation (ex: 50% or more of the team must be a citizen of the sponsoring country)
b. The non-citizen agreed to compete under the flag of the sponsoring country.
However, the rub is the second part of the sentence, "and whose entries have been accepted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)," which requires all team members to be citizens of the country for which they compete:
-respect the spirit of fair play and non violence, and behave accordingly on the sportsfield ;
- refrain from using substances and procedures prohibited by the rules of the IOC, the International Sports Federations or the National Olympic Committees (NOC);
- respect and comply in all aspects with the Olympic Movement Anti-Doping Code.
- Any competitor in the Olympic Games must be a national of the country of the NOC with is entering him.
http://www.olympic.org/uk/athletes/olympians/index_uk.asp
Jacques Rogge spoke about the
mission:
Our primary mission will not change. This is to promote the values of Olympism and ensure the regular celebration of the Olympic Games. Within this framework, however, we are endeavouring to reduce the size of the Games to a more manageable level, to intensify the fight against doping and continue the reforms already underway.
Under
Olympism and Olympians I found:
"The important thing in these Olympiads is not so much winning as taking part" said the Bishop of Pennsylvania, Ethlelbert Talbot, in his sermon on 19th July 1908 in London during the Games of the IV Olympiad. Coubertin thought this message was "of great philosophical significance" and used it himself, adding his own personal touch. In his writings, Coubertin considered sport in its educational sense, declaring that "the important thing in life is not victory, but the fight; the main thing is not to have won, but to have fought well."
As far as the ideals and mission are concerned, there is nothing inherent about citizenship in these. I would argue that in many cases clas, religion, and/or language might be a more common bond across nations than between national team members. The downside about mixing citizenship on teams is that nations could "buy" participants from other countries, but, on the other hand, the teams from countries could be bigger if some of the team participants could come from other nations. And no one would force the national baseball team, for example, to choose non-citizens.
