FIONNUALA MCCORMACK HAS hit out at the way athletes can switch allegiances after Kenyan-born Turkish runner Yasemin Can won the European Championships 10,000 metres final this evening.
McCormack expressed her disappointment and frustration after finishing fourth in Amsterdam and blasted the rules which allow athletes to represent a country they’ve never lived in.
The Wicklow woman recorded the second best time of her career over this distance but it wasn’t enough as she fell just short of finishing on the podium.
Can, who was born in Kenya and represented the country up until last year, won gold for her adopted nation by a huge margin in a time of 31 minutes and 12 seconds.
Speaking to RTÉ afterwards, McCormack labelled the system a ‘complete joke’:
“There doesn’t seem to be anything that can be done about it,” she said. “People are taking such a soft approach to this. I think it’s a joke really and it’s not because I have come fourth.
“I think it’s the same in every sport. People shouldn’t be allowed hop countries whenever they feel like it. It’s a dangerous country to be living in (Turkey), why would you just decide to represent them? I have no idea and I don’t think it should be allowed.
“This whole thing is a complete joke. I’ve said it to people at the top and they have basically just said it’s not something you have a choice in,” she lamented.
“You go and do it because you are told to do it and it makes it look good to the rest of the public.
“Someone just needs to lay down the law and that should be the end of it. It doesn’t need to be something you have a debate about. It’s obvious.”
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