RIO DE JANEIRO -- For Sale: One elite athlete, lightly used. Will swap citizenship, move to your country and even marry to compete for your Olympic team if the price is right. (Note: All marriage proposals must include a photo.)---When it comes to the Olympics, a lot more mercenaries -- er, athletes -- change allegiances than youd think.Here at the Rio Games, Bahrains delegation of 30 athletes includes exactly four Bahraini natives. Twenty-three of Qatars 39 athletes were born somewhere else. Its handball team of 14 players includes 11 foreign-borns, including Marko Bagaric, who helped lead the Qataris to an upset win over Croatia, the land of his birth.He felt bad for Croatia but got over it soon enough.The worst feeling was during the national anthem, Bagaric said. Ah, but what can I do?While oil-rich, Gulf states game the system most often, theyre hardly the only nations that seek to flip athletes like used-car dealers. The 550-plus strong U.S. delegation includes 46 athletes -- about 8 percent -- born elsewhere. China is so dominant in table tennis that one in five of the 140 competitors spread across 55 teams were born in the worlds most populous nation.The reasons for what noted Olympic historian David Wallechinsky calls a braun drain and others a passport swap or transfer of allegiance are varied. In some cases, like Chinas table-tennis players, American basketball and baseball athletes, or Kenyas long-distance runners, the talent pool at home is so deep that reserves with no chance to make the first team are still better than any other countrys best.Some athletes take advantage of their ancestry and others gain citizenship through marriage or relocation. But the International Olympic Committee rules governing such moves are so laughably lax that mercenaries in the games are every bit as prominent as in other big-time, big-money sports like soccer. All such moves require is agreement by both nations Olympic committees, some of that consensus no doubt influenced by cash.Qatar, for example, bought the entire Bulgarian weightlifting team in 2000 for a reported $1 million, awarding citizenship and new names to all eight athletes involved.But only one of them, Angel Popov -- renamed Said Saif Assad just in time for the Sydney Games -- returned to his new home with a bronze medal. That left some Qataris wondering whether the money would have been better spent making sure Bulgarias notorious doping program was included in the deal.Undaunted, the Qataris bought Kenyan long-distance runners Stephen Cherono and Albert Chepkurui three years later. That didnt work out much better.Nation shopping, yet another name for the practice, has become prevalent enough in track and field competitions that when the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) convenes Saturday, finding a way to tighten up the eligibility for the movement of athletes is near the top of their agenda.Soccers worldwide governing body, FIFA, may be the most corrupt outfit in sports, but their rules on nation shopping are both simple and effective: Once an athlete has played for a country in an internationally sanctioned tournament at the senior level, hes bound to that country for life. No exceptions.Both Wallechinsky and Bill Mallon, a historian and statistician with the U.S. Olympic Committee, would like to see the IOC adopt a similar measure. Wallechinsky also thinks a limit on foreign-born athletes on each national team, or the number allowed to compete in any given sport, might work as well.Mallon also said removing the exception allowing the national Olympic committees involved to override the rule already on the IOC books might turn the trick. It currently states athletes can switch countries provided at least three years have passed since the competitor last represented his former country.I think you could make very specific exceptions, for examples, like marriages, he said.But a moment later, Mallon pulls up a file on his computer screen and notes that of the 952 married couples that have competed in the games over the years, 190 have involved a couple where the husband or wife hails from a different country.He had no idea what the divorce rate for the group might be. But it seems someone who would walk away from his or her country wouldnt find it much harder to walk out on a spouse.---Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke(at)ap.org or Twitter.com/JimLitke White Running Shoes . The showiest items on Calgarys lot were forwards Mike Cammalleri and Lee Stempniak. Both will be unrestricted free agents this summer. Pink Running Shoes Cheap . Philadelphia is 2-0 against the Senators this season and scored five goals in each victory. The Flyers recorded a 5-0 win in Ottawa on Nov. 12 and then earned a 5-2 home decision on Nov. 19. The Flyers have claimed three straight and four of the last five encounters with the Sens overall and Philly has won two in a row and three of its past four tests in Canadas capital city. http://www.cheaprunningshoesforsale.com/ . -- Nate Robinson has played for seven teams, so beating one of them is no longer a rare occurrence. Grey Running Shoes . That gave fans outside Joe Louis Arena another chance to ask for autographs from the 19-year-old whose stardom in the NHL has arrived earlier than most expected. Womens Running Shoes . According the Toronto Star, a knee injury will keep Sundin out of the lineup, which includes former teammates Gary Roberts, Darcy Tucker, Tie Domi and Curtis Joseph. ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Nick Tropeano is the third Los Angeles Angels starter to tear his ulnar collateral ligament this season, and manager Mike Scioscia is wondering whether the club is doing something wrong.A disappointed Tropeano said Tuesday that hell seek a second opinion before deciding whether to have Tommy John surgery, which could sideline him until 2018. The right-hander felt no sharp pain in his elbow Monday but left his start after just two innings with what he thought was soreness.Im just trying to stay positive until we get that second opinion, get that true diagnosis, Tropeano said. Its upsetting. Its a tough blow to me, but obviously I want to be out there. I want to pitch. I want to help this team win. Its part of the game nowadays, I guess.Tropeano and fellow Angels starters Garrett Richards and Andrew Heaney have torn their UCLs over the past four months. Heaney had Tommy John surgery earlier this month, while Richards is still hoping to avoid it with rest and platelet-rich plasma injections.Tropeano likely cant wait that long to decide on surgery if he hopes to be ready to pitch in 2018.Were going to keep all options open, Tropeano said. Obviously no one wants to get surgery, so if (rest and therapy are) a possibility, were going to look into it.The Angels had only three recorded UCL tears during Scioscias first 16 seasons in charge of the club from 2000-15. The longest-tenured manager in baseball is baffled by the dramatic upswing in major arm injuries this year.What were looking at is just looking in the mirror, saying, `What is going on (that) we have so many back to back? Scioscia said. You definitely look internally. You analyze everything from the throwing program to how you monitor guys, and were going to do that. ... So this might be a fluke thing, but naturally you have to look from within to make sure that the process is correct. Weve always been confident with it, but when youu have injuries like this, then naturally we look to see if theres any cause.ddddddddddddC.J. Wilson also hasnt pitched for the Angels in 2016. The 35-year-old left-hander had surgery on his problematic shoulder earlier this month, likely ending the final season of his $77.5 million contract.Tropeano is 3-2 with a 3.56 ERA in 13 starts this season, bouncing in and out of the rotation during the Angels bewildering series of injuries. The Long Island native came off the disabled list earlier this month after a minor league stint.After their worst first half since 1992, the Angels (41-52) won their first four games out of the All-Star break. The latest loss of a starter to long-term injury probably makes it impractical for the Angels to trade off any of their remaining rotation depth -- such as dependable veterans Matt Shoemaker or Hector Santiago -- to rebuild their depleted farm system, since somebody will have to pitch for the club next season as well.Our depth is stretched, Scioscia said. We still feel the guys in our rotation are going to give us a chance to get back in this, but were thin, no doubt.Tropeanos replacement in the rotation might be Tyler Skaggs, who had Tommy John surgery of his own in 2014 after 18 starts with the Angels.Skaggs, a formerly touted prospect acquired in a trade for All-Star slugger Mark Trumbo, was scheduled to start for Triple-A Salt Lake on Tuesday. He has been solid after overcoming a biceps injury that threw off his recovery, and a day off in the Angels schedule would allow him to make his big-league return on regular rest.Scioscia wouldnt commit to Skaggs as Tropeanos replacement, but acknowledged the Angels have fewer choices than most teams.Veteran Jhoulys Chacin, who lost his spot in the rotation recently, also could take Tropeanos turn. ' ' '
