Sport, patriotism, and the Olympic Games

The nation-swapping athlete has become an increasingly common, and enduring, phenomenon of Olympic history. The ancient Olympic Games were restricted to free Greeks; but later Romans, Egyptians, and other foreigners also competed. In addition, during the Hellenistic period, it was common for the best athletes to trade their talents to the highestpaying city-state. Greek politicians and rulers saw sport as "a successful means of legitimizing their position of power," particularly "if their worthiness to rule could not be constitutionally proved" (Hardy 1977, 6).