Citizenship and the Olympics – Who can be part of a “national” team?

Olympics and nationality

Since the Olympic Games represent a competition between nations, it is understandable when someone wonders: how can an athlete compete for a nation different from where they were born? Or how can athletes switch nations? How and why is that allowed?

The main requirement for participating at the Olympics, other than previous participation at qualification events, is that athletes must be a citizen of the country they are competing for. However, many people acquire second citizenships or even switch citizenship throughout their life. Athletes are allowed the same, and through their new citizenship, they will be able to compete for a new country. There are several reasons why this might happen (and below, we explain how it is done).

Possible reasons for competing under a different flag

• Some athletes might be dual citizens from the start, like alpine ski racer Lucas Pinheiro Braathen. Due to his parentage, he is a citizen of both Brazil and Norway. While he started his career representing Norway, at one point he switched to Brazil to honor the heritage of his mother’s family, and won Brazil’s first ever Winter Olympics gold medal.
• People move around, like ice dancer Vadym Kolesnik, who was born in Ukraine, but moved to the U.S. and has been representing the States ever since.
• In sports where two (or more) people compete together, it is very difficult to find a good partner above a certain level of proficiency. The search for a new partner does not know borders, so you often end up with people from different countries. At that point, one of the pair will have to change teams (and citizenship) in order to compete at the Olympics. Figure skating is a typical example. This is why Canadian-born Laurence Fournier Beaudry applied for French citizenship so she can compete together with Guillaume Cizeron. At the same time, Alisa Efimova did not receive her U.S. citizenship in time, so she was not able to represent the country where she lives with her husband and partner, Misha Mitrofanov.
• It might also happen that an athlete goes looking for a sponsor country where there is less competition in their sport of choice or better training opportunities, so they have more chance to qualify for the Olympics.
• In some cases, it is the countries that reach out to athletes to represent them, offering funding and support. This can happen when an athletic association wants to secure more attention and financial support for their sport.
• It can also happen that a country is banned from participation, which is the case for Russia at the current Olympics. In that case, athletes may decide to pursue their careers representing other nations – often at the expense of losing perks obtained through their previous wins, sometimes even their original citizenship if their original or their new country does not allow dual citizenship. They could also decide to participate as “independent” athletes, but that has its own drawbacks because they have no team backing and cannot participate (and win medals) in team events.

Keep in mind that you cannot always guess nationality based on names alone; for example, figure skater Alisa Efimova was born in Finland, while her partner Misha Mitrofanov was born in Wisconsin, U.S.A., even though both have Slavic sounding names. World top figure skater Ilia Malinin is U.S.-born, although his parents immigrated to the U.S. from the USSR, and were also accomplished skaters (skating for Uzbekistan).

Sports and naturalization

While sporting events like the Olympic Games have regulations regarding who can compete and how, countries have their own regulations regarding who can become a citizen and how, and granting citizenship is normally within a country’s sovereign discretion. For example, in Hungary you can obtain citizenship if you have lived in Hungary long enough, or if at least one of your parents, grandparents, or other ancestors was Hungarian. Additionally, Hungary (like many nations) offers preferential treatment to people whose naturalization may be considered national interest, and accomplished athletes fall into this category alongside scientists and artists.

The simplified naturalization offered to athletes based on national interest in Hungary is much like the process available to those who want to obtain citizenship based on ancestry. Both processes take around a year, and both require a clean criminal record and a background check to see that the applicant poses no threat to the public safety and national security of Hungary. The main difference is the language requirement: athletes and other extraordinary applicants do not need to speak Hungarian in order to receive citizenship. It sometimes surprises people that athletes competing e.g. for Hungary do not speak Hungarian very well but this is perfectly regular; citizenship of a country does not, as a default, depend on language skills. Originally, granting citizenship based on national interest mostly applied to Hungarian athletes or other prominent persons living outside Hungary, meaning ethnic Hungarians who were nationals of the neighboring countries but wanted to represent Hungary at international events. Over the years, however, several athletes without former ties to Hungary have received Hungarian citizenship, sometimes with very limited connection to Hungary (and very limited Hungarian language skills).

Naturalized athletes at the Olympic Games

Before attending the Olympic Games, athletes still need to qualify by attending qualification events and producing good enough results. These include local as well as international events and championships. Additionally, an athlete can represent just one country at the same time, so if they have multiple citizenships, the countries need to agree on who is represented; usually there is an official declaration that one country allows the other to be represented.

In line with this, Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko figure skaters, who have just won 4^th place in pair skating for their performance, have been skating for Hungary since 2021 and 2022 respectively, and with impressive results, even though they were born and normally train in Russia. Short-track speed skater Moon Won-jun arrived in Hungary in late 2022 as a training partner, and was nationalized in 2024 alongside speed skater Kim Min-seok, also from South Korea. When they had a fallout with the Korean team, they were offered a place on the Hungarian team so they can pursue their careers unhindered.

Simplified naturalization based on heritage

If you are not a talented athlete, you may still qualify for simplified naturalization in Hungary. According to estimates, there are more than 5 million Hungarian people living outside Hungary, and even more might be eligible for citizenship based on their ancestry, which is available without limits as long as you can provide a paper trail to at least one Hungarian ancestor. Mind you, unlike people whose presence is considered a national interest, you will need to speak Hungarian at least on a conversational level, because you will need to talk briefly with an administrator and write a CV on your own during the application process.

Do you think you might be eligible? Start the journey towards Hungarian citizenship with a simple online test that is completely free of charge and takes only a few minutes. If you seem eligible, you can proceed to a consultation with one of our experts. We also have a comprehensive package that covers the entire application process, but you do not have to commit to that right from the start. Get the consultation, and later you can deduct its price from the full package.

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