ORIENTEERING: BJ - Brave or Stupid?
The news that David Brickhill-Jones ("BJ"), one of Australia's leading orienteers, has decided to take advantage of his Welsh father and dual nationality to run for Great Britain from next year, is sure to have fired up the emotions across the Tasman. It's a pity Australia don't have an equivalent of Maptalk as the voyeur in me would love to see the reactions from our friends across the ditch. Some idea of the feelings can be gauged from the British forum nopesport where some Aussies have expressed their opinion, both for and against.
Of course, sportspeople switching nationalities is nothing new. This weekend, New Zealand takes on Australia in netball, and the fact that we are currently the world champions has something to with the fact that a tall goalshoot from South Africa emigrated to our shores a few years ago. She's not the only South African to leave their country for good (think Kevin Pietersen and Zola Budd), and such lifestyle decisions can be somewhat understood. From Kenyan middle-distance runners running for Denmark or Qatar, to washed-up All Blacks turning out for Samoa or Scotland, country-hopping is an accepted part of the sporting landscape.
However BJ's decision is not to do with lifestyle. If you believe his statement ("this decision is based on my personal circumstances, being based permanently in Europe, and the support available to me from British Orienteering to support me in my goal of becoming World Champion"), it's purely a decision of "I've got a greater chance of being the best by running for GBR, than AUS"
Sorry BJ, that doesn't wash. One only has to go back to May this year, when BJ finished second in the World Cup sprint race held (ironically) in England, to see that despite the apparent disadvantage of being an Australian orienteer, you can still achieve on the world stage. One only has to look at the examples of the trailblazers before him, especially Grant Bluett and his win at the World Games in 2001, to see that it doesn't matter if you come from Australia or Outer Mongolia, or live in Sweden or Timbuktoo, if you're good enough, you can win.
I could speculate as to the real reasons behind the decision, but in deference to the many friends I have in Australian orienteering, I'm not going to. And even though I may think BJ's decision might turn out to be the wrong one, I'm not going to be critical - it's his life, and he has to live it the way he wants to. But I will say if this was a Kiwi orienteer turncoating, I'd be mightily pissed off and can understand the disappointment no doubt many Australians feel.
Here's the irony: BJ has displayed his talent, while running for Australia, by finishing second in a World Cup sprint race. There's only one race more important than the World Cup, and that's the World Championships. There's only one place better than second, and that's first.
So BJ is basically telling us that to improve one place, he needs to swap countries. Brave or stupid? I guess time will tell. I hope for BJ's sake he can improve that one place needed to become World Champion, because I imagine there will be a few of his ex-countrymen lining up to take potshots at him should he not do so, and in some respects, who can blame them?
Of course, sportspeople switching nationalities is nothing new. This weekend, New Zealand takes on Australia in netball, and the fact that we are currently the world champions has something to with the fact that a tall goalshoot from South Africa emigrated to our shores a few years ago. She's not the only South African to leave their country for good (think Kevin Pietersen and Zola Budd), and such lifestyle decisions can be somewhat understood. From Kenyan middle-distance runners running for Denmark or Qatar, to washed-up All Blacks turning out for Samoa or Scotland, country-hopping is an accepted part of the sporting landscape.
However BJ's decision is not to do with lifestyle. If you believe his statement ("this decision is based on my personal circumstances, being based permanently in Europe, and the support available to me from British Orienteering to support me in my goal of becoming World Champion"), it's purely a decision of "I've got a greater chance of being the best by running for GBR, than AUS"
Sorry BJ, that doesn't wash. One only has to go back to May this year, when BJ finished second in the World Cup sprint race held (ironically) in England, to see that despite the apparent disadvantage of being an Australian orienteer, you can still achieve on the world stage. One only has to look at the examples of the trailblazers before him, especially Grant Bluett and his win at the World Games in 2001, to see that it doesn't matter if you come from Australia or Outer Mongolia, or live in Sweden or Timbuktoo, if you're good enough, you can win.
I could speculate as to the real reasons behind the decision, but in deference to the many friends I have in Australian orienteering, I'm not going to. And even though I may think BJ's decision might turn out to be the wrong one, I'm not going to be critical - it's his life, and he has to live it the way he wants to. But I will say if this was a Kiwi orienteer turncoating, I'd be mightily pissed off and can understand the disappointment no doubt many Australians feel.
Here's the irony: BJ has displayed his talent, while running for Australia, by finishing second in a World Cup sprint race. There's only one race more important than the World Cup, and that's the World Championships. There's only one place better than second, and that's first.
So BJ is basically telling us that to improve one place, he needs to swap countries. Brave or stupid? I guess time will tell. I hope for BJ's sake he can improve that one place needed to become World Champion, because I imagine there will be a few of his ex-countrymen lining up to take potshots at him should he not do so, and in some respects, who can blame them?
Labels: orienteering
posted by Rob Crawford at 8:06 AM
1 Comments:
I see BJ's taking out British nationality as just a piece of paper letting him earn a bit more money in direct government support. True citizenship is a question of loyalty, not a piece of paper.
His statement affirms his loyalty to Australia, and it's pretty hard to see how someone who grew up in Australia could ever forget his roots.
Sometimes athletes can't win on these things anyway. I know Eddy Wymer copped some flak in France when after coming 2nd in M35 at WMOC at Mt Kooyoora he said how proud he was to be Australian - at least some French thought they deserved some credit since he's been living in France for many years.
There's about 5% of all Australians living outside Australia nowadays. Many of them must have taken out foreign citizenship to have the right to work elsewhere. Big deal. It's part of a more international outward-looking Australia.
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