
Hacking the Olympics - jbaudanza
I&#x27;ve been following one of my friends for the past few months as he is trying to pursue his largest childhood dream of becoming an Olympian.<p>What makes this interesting is that he&#x27;s a 36 year old tech guy.  He&#x27;s worked in the video game and web industry for the past 15 years.  Knowing him, it would be a stretch to call him an athlete when he started this.<p>He&#x27;s approached this in a very cool manner.  Instead of brute force like most athletes, he did his research.  He went out and found all the sports that had more open qualifications.  This led him to narrow it down to 4 sports of Bobsled, Luge, Downhill Skiing and Cross-Country Skiing.<p>Subsequently after trying a few of them he picked Cross-Country Skiing.  He needed to get on the snow asap so he let his lease up in San Francisco and moved to Northern Finland above the Arctic to chase the snow.  Subsequently this summer he flew around to wherever there was snow and it took him to Austria, New Zealand and Australia.<p>He knew that he would never qualify as a US citizen.  So he thought to himself… maybe I can become a citizen of a tropical country.  After a huge email and snail mail writing campaign to embassies and olympic committees he was able to get interest from a few.  One agreed to do it and as of August he became a citizen of Colombia!<p>So I&#x27;d like to present you with, Paul, the first ever Colombian Cross-Country skier.<p>He released a trailer video yesterday and also put up a Facebook page. I personally find his persistence in pursing his dream inspiring. Please support him be sharing and liking.<p>https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.facebook.com&#x2F;teampaul2014<p>http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=QO2VSdncp1o
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jamesbondini
This reminds me of Philip Boit.

In 1996, Nike decided on a sports experiment / PR stunt - it would pay for two
Kenyan long distance runners, Philip Kimely Boit and Henry Bitok, to train in
cross-country skiing for the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. The two
Kenyans have never skiied before in their lives - heck, they've never even
seen snow until they arrived in Finland to train.

Bitok never qualified for the race, but Boit did. He cross-country skiied in
the 10-kilometer classic in Nagano ... and came in dead last. The awards
ceremony for the race had to be delayed because the winner, Norwegian cross-
country skier and legend in the sport Bjørn Dæhlie, insisted on waiting 20
minutes for Boit to cross the finish line so he could cheer Boit on!

~~~
smackfu
Interesting, never heard of this before. I would have expected endurance
running to translate to endurance skiing better, but I don't know how good
runners they were. Even top 1% is great but probably not Olympics.

~~~
mikestew
I've done a fair amount of cross-country skiing, and am a locally-competitive
distance runner. My guess is that if you've never even seen snow, your skiing
efficiency will be poor enough that you can't finish (probably because "what's
the point", not because you can't make the distance) or end up last against
good skiers. Give it a few years, maybe your form will improve enough to be
competitive. But it's not like running where you mostly just run.

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notahacker
This is cool, but I'm surprised it's not much more difficult in skiing even
Olympics since the IOC have been trying to stamp out no-hopers ever since
Britain's "Eddie the Eagle" became legendary for his amateurish ski-jump
attempts.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_%22The_Eagle%22_Edwards](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_%22The_Eagle%22_Edwards)

Eddie was a much more accomplished athlete than the Congoese swimmer who could
barely get the end of the pool, and probably a better skier than your friend,
but the IOC took a dim view of enthusiastic amateurs hurtling down ski-slopes
in front of millions of viewers that were genuinely pleased just to see him
survive the jump, and introduced qualification requirements. I'm surprised
they haven't introduced them for dangerous sports like the luge as well. At
least your friend had the sense to pick cross country skiing

The way to get an Olympic _medal_ is to be naturally gifted and train every
day from teens onwards, like one of my brother's friends did...

I still regret not learning to play handball in approx 2010 since the Great
Britain felt compelled to enter a team at their home Olympics despite it being
about the only sport British people don't play.

~~~
togasystems
To qualify for the olympics, Paul needs to come within 10 mins of the top
finishing skier in an international event. I am rooting for him!

~~~
geargrinder
This is harder than it sounds.

~~~
alanfang
More like completely impossible for a 36 year old that doesn't have decades of
previous cross country skiing or athletic experience. It is a hugely demanding
physical sport and the difference between a top athlete and a proficient
amateur is gigantic. He would be better off trying to get bobsled team in a
tropical country off the ground and practice sprinting with a sled for a
couple of years. You still won't stand a chance at winning but you might
qualify.

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gamblor956
The hubris of the poster and his friend is offensive on its face.

Athletes do not make it to the Olympics through "brute force." Exercise is the
least part of Olympic training. Olympic-caliber athletes spend _years_
practicing their specific discipline(s), developing everything from the
mechanics of their movement to the interplay of their body with the
environment.

Cross-country skiing isn't just something you can "pick up" a few months
before the Games and hope to have a shot. It is a _grueling_ physically
demanding sport that requires tremendous endurance, technical, and mental
preparation.

Also--simply being a citizen of a low-population country is not sufficient to
qualify for the Olympics (winter or summer). The Olympics are a competition
for the _best_ athletes in the sport--novelty acts don't just get to waltz in.
Prior to each Olympics, each sport sets forth the qualifying standards (time,
place in qualifying races, etc.). Even the Jamaican bobsled team had to
qualify for the Olympics.

~~~
groundCode
"The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part,
just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle.
The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well"
([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_creed#Motto](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_creed#Motto))

I say let him have his games - it's not for us to shit on other people's
dreams.

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evanjacobs
Kathryn Bertine wrote a book and a series of articles for ESPN in which she
tried to do something very similar. After trying several sports, she settled
on cycling and gained citizenship of St. Kitts and Nevis.

More about her story at:
[http://espn.go.com/espnw/blogs/training/article/6177784/kath...](http://espn.go.com/espnw/blogs/training/article/6177784/kathryn-
bertine-love-cycling)

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andzt
While I think this is really interesting, I do think it's slightly
disrespectful of the sport and the Olympic games in general. Good luck getting
rocked at the Olympics Paul!

~~~
pbhjpbhj
From olympic.org:

>" _What is Olympism?_

" _Olympism is a philosophy of life, exalting and combining in a balanced
whole the qualities of body, will and mind. Blending sport with culture and
education, Olympism seeks to create a way of life based on the joy found in
effort, the educational value of good example and respect for universal
fundamental ethical principles._

" _The goal of the Olympic Movement is to contribute to building a peaceful
and better world by educating youth through sport practiced without
discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual
understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play._ "

Sounds like what he is doing follows the spirit of Olympism.

~~~
yetanotherphd
"respect for universal fundamental ethical principles."

That's something I can get behind!

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emanrr83
anybody can get on television if they really want to. an Olympian, so what? as
someone who truly enjoys sports this is more annoying than anything. if he
happened to be from Colombia, and had intentions to work hard an compete in
cross country skiing it would be a great story. this is a mockery. also, real
athletes change citizenship all the time to 'hack' for
money/fame/international glory/sponsorships, this is nothing new.

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oskarth
Reminds me of this guy:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Moussambani](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Moussambani)

~~~
dxm
And similarly:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_%22The_Eagle%22_Edwards](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_%22The_Eagle%22_Edwards)

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adrianh
Paul is awesome, and this is going to make a great documentary movie, whatever
happens in the end. :) I believe he has a film crew following him around.

~~~
yetanotherphd
Will the ironic twist be that his real goal was to get in a documentary movie,
and that pretending to want to be in the Olympics was just a "hack"?

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veenix
Cool Runnings!
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106611/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106611/)

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drewmate
If he became a Colombian citizen, doesn't that mean he has voluntarily given
up his U.S. citizenship? If he was born a US citizen, he just gave up one of
the most valuable things anyone could have (and he got for free) just to
pursue some pipe dream that still may not be realized. Talk about selling your
birthright for a mess of pottage.

~~~
count
You do not have to give up your US citizenship to gain citizenship in another
country. Even if you tell Colombia you will, at any point you can tell the US
you never intended to cede citizenship, and you are an US Citizen again. It's
VERY hard to lose citizenship (at least, as a natural born citizen).

~~~
furyg3
The US permits dual citizenship, without treaties, by default. If a person is
a US citizen, it does _not_ recognize that person's other nationality. This
simply means that it's ok if you are American and French, but the US treats
you as American, and ignores the French bit..

My understanding when researching my own dual-citizenship is that you do not
loose your American nationality when acquiring another nationality unless it
was your intent to do so. Some countries require that you do this as a
condition of nationalization (and some make exceptions for marriage, previous
family ties, etc). So if you acquired a second nationality in a country that
required this, knew that it meant giving up your US nationality, and willingly
did so, you would no longer be American. Whether or you or the second country
mention this to the US authorities is a totally separate matter, which can
result in some interesting consequences later.

So if you need to renounce your previous citizenship as a condition of
becoming, say, Columbian, then you would no longer be American (probably).
Seeing as though he became Columbian through presidential decree, I'm guessing
Columbia didn't make him do this. So now he is a dual-national, but from the
US government's perspective he is American.

~~~
count
I've read a bit about cases where even if you renounce your US citizenship to
the foreign government to become a new nationality, you can still tell the US
Govt 'I was just kidding to those foreigners', and you're fine. It's only
really an issue if you renounce it to the US Govt directly.

~~~
furyg3
Yes I've also heard about people 'renouncing' their American nationality to
foreign governments, not informing the US, keeping their passport, and not
having any issues. I've also heard about people exaggerating facts to ensure
their children (born abroad) obtain US citizenship (possible if the parents
are American and have lived in the US for some amount of years - there's the
catch).

The problem is that you really don't want to be in a limbo state with your
citizenship. Some politicians or bureaucrats in the future could decide that
there are a lot of people abroad collecting social security, let's audit their
citizenship.

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richardlblair
Some coworkers and I were talking about this exact same thing. In the last
Winter Olympics Jon Montgomery won a gold metal in skeleton. In his interview
he admitted that he wanted to be an Olympian, and that skeleton seemed like a
way he could accomplish that. It's clever, very clever.

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stefek99
For me the accomplishment is to get Youtube username:
[http://www.youtube.com/user/paul/about](http://www.youtube.com/user/paul/about)
Joined 25 Apr 2005

You were planning it all life long :)

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yeukhon
Why is the tile called "Hacking"? It seems like everyone came here to hear
some hacking but instead we get a story of someone trying to become an
Olympian.

~~~
andyakb
Reading the other posts, this doesn't seem to be the case. It is "hacking"
because he was creative in how he pursued this goal while still working within
the framework

~~~
yeukhon
Excuse my negativity here but I feel like the title should be clear: "My
friend wants to become an Olympian". This title is as powerful as the current
one. I will probably be interested in reading too if that title was used
instead.

I am a guy interested in security and I am sensitive to the word "hacking".
And I bet most of the HNers are interested in security too.

Given the whole PRISM thing about different government was intercepting
communication during the London Olympic game, calling out "Hacking Olympic"
would ring the bell. This is a sensitive title to me.

I had to read the text three times before I realized there was no hacking
involved other than "being creative".

I will wish him best but please, OP, please, don't ever do this again. If I
had to sound harsher, this is a marketing strategy. You have captured
everyone's attention, but to me it's a bad attention.

Imagine everyone doing something "creative" and starts making a post starting
with "Hacking...".

Sorry to be harsh, but this is how I feel.

~~~
jckt
You raise a fair point wrt the context of the word, but this isn't actually a
new use of the word "hack" or "hacking" or "hacker". In fact, if you read this
link by our beloved rms:

[http://stallman.org/articles/on-
hacking.html](http://stallman.org/articles/on-hacking.html)

it would seem that the "old-school" (typically a more conservative) generation
of hackers would not have found this use of the word "hack" incorrect at all.

~~~
yeukhon
My point is more about writing a title that is appropriate for the article
intent. If everyone begins with "Hacking" then that kind of title will soon
become meaningless. Kids are taught to write introduction with a question or a
quote. Well, that doesn't always work out nicely, right?

Same here. This title is controversial to me and I think my point regarding
London Olympic MITM is valid. Hence, please use something more descriptive.

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001sky
_This led him to narrow it down to 4 sports of Bobsled, Luge, Downhill Skiing
and Cross-Country Skiing._

~~~
001sky
Is it really hacking the olypmics to pic the sport with the least skill/co-
ordination possible? Why do people think this is anything other than
narcissism? Nordic skiing from a tropical country?

~~~
kaitai
Have you tried cross-country skiing, my friend?

Cross-country merely has the lowest risk of death of the four named. The skill
and co-ordination needed to be good are dramatically higher than the skill and
co-ordination needed to make it to the finish line intact.

~~~
001sky
Its clear that 'good' is not the criterion for performance. Its merely the
only sport not likely to cause death or risk of permanant injury to a
dilletante. Nordic is a bitch for Vo2 max, with our without technique, I'm not
arguing the case thatway.[1] Its just lame to think one is being anything
other than narcissitic to be an "olympian" in this way. Its just brute-forcing
a rules book.

[1] But then again, so is walking (postholing) in soft snow, without skis.

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jstalin
How does one just become a citizen of Columbia??

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scabadone
I guess he explained it a bit in this post :
[https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=227560864073797&set=...](https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=227560864073797&set=a.227552584074625.1073741828.224607397702477&type=1)

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raudaskoski
The story is like from a movie

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Nicholas_C
I love this. Very cool.

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blaalz
Bravo good Paul

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artag
go Paul!!

