bounty44
Posts: 6374
Joined: 11/1/2014 Status: offline
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its a little bit challenging to get a grasp on---in the traditional sense, she was not "representing" iran. there was no "country competition." ironman triathlons and triathlons en route to the ironmans, require membership in some triathlon organization. those organizations exist at the country level because triathlons have gone the Olympic route. in order to compete to qualify for, and to compete in the ironman, she needed to have belonged to some triathlon federation/organization. outside of the Olympics, people who belong to those organizations don't "represent" their countries in an official way, though one can say, depending on circumstances, they represent them in an unofficial, sentimental, or moral way. she still could have raced having been a member of the british triathlon organizations, she chose instead to be associated with iran, as maria said above, in order to make a point. she was not forced, she was given conditions and she accepted them willingly. the people article talks about how other women have made similar inquiries as a result of this woman's success. so i'll say again, what she did is a triumphant first step. she's a trailblazer.
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