Although the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics are still some way off, preparations by various countries have already begun; for example, Turkey has already started a "talent pool" program, and one of their key methods is naturalization.
According to the latest report from AFP, five Kenyan athletes, including former women's marathon world record-holder Brigid Kosgei, will compete for Turkey, and Kosgei herself has acknowledged that her change of nationality has been completed. Among the other four is Paris Olympics men's 5,000m silver medallistRonald Kwemoi.
In addition to the Kenyan distance runners, Turkey's naturalized roster also includes several athletes from Jamaica, including three Paris Olympics medallists: discus thrower Roje Stona, Rajindra Campbell, and long jumper Wayne Pinnock.
According to reports, for this naturalization Turkey was also "generous" — the signing bonus alone reached as high as $500,000, and there is a $380,000 Olympic gold medal bonus and a $190,000 Olympic record bonus. It's clear Turkey is determined to end its drought and secure its first Olympic athletics gold.
The 31-year-old Brigid Kosgei set the women's world record of 2:14:04 at the 2019 Chicago Marathon, which stood until 2023.
In 2021, she won the silver medal for Kenya in the women's marathon at the Tokyo Olympics. After winning the 2022 Tokyo Marathon, she was plagued by injuries and never returned to her peak, nor did she represent Kenya again at major international competitions.
At this year’s Shanghai Marathon, Kosgei took the win by breaking the course record and setting the fastest women’s marathon time ever recorded in China, a sign of a return to form.
Under the Olympic Charter and World Athletics regulations, athletes face a three-year waiting period after changing nationality, and may only represent their new country once that period has ended. So, in theory, Kosgei should have completed her nationality change before the end of June last year.
Naturalization and recruiting naturalized athletes are not new for Turkey and Kenya. In World Athletics’ database, Turkey’s fastest marathon performance comes from Kenyan-born naturalized athlete Kaan Kigen Özbilen（Kaan Kigen Özbilen） who ran 2:04:16 at the 2019 Valencia Marathon, which was the European record at the time.
Former Kenyan athlete Bernard Lagat（Bernard Lagat） won world championships in both the 1500m and 5000m after switching allegiance to the United States. In addition, Rio Olympic men’s 5000m silver medalist Paul Chelimo（Paul Chelimo） and Paris Olympic entrant Leonard Korir (Leonard Korir） also hail from Kenya.
The previous Olympic women's 3000m steeplechase champion and Olympic record breaker, Winfred Yavi, is also Kenyan, and she switched allegiance to Bahrain at age 15.
For Kenya, a deep talent pool helped them haul in 11 medals at last year's World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, including seven golds, making them the world's second-strongest athletics nation after the United States. Their dominance in middle- and long-distance events is unrivaled, and with countries such as Turkey, Bahrain, Qatar and Kazakhstan continuing to naturalize athletes, it seems inevitable that more Kenyan faces will appear at future global championships.
