Competing for ‘another’ country in the Olympics is nothing new. Here’s how it works.

I see you’ve been taking in the ice dancing. The discipline is rife with pairs where at least one half has tenuous, if any, ties to the country for which they compete (though none of the medalist pairs this year had naturalized members). Ice dancing has historically been dominated by a handful of countries — namely Russia (or its historical antecedents), with strong showings by Canada, France, the U.S. and Great Britain. That means if you want to make it to the premier rink, it might behoove you to acquire a new nationality.