It’s an iconic Olympic image: Athletes wiping away a tear on the medal stand while singing along to their national anthem. But what if they don’t quite know the words?

That might be the case at the Beijing Olympics if, for instance, the Russian women win gold in basketball. One of the “Russians” is South Dakota native Becky Hammon.

A Colorado State graduate, she’s competes for the San Antonio Silver Stars in the WNBA. She is not of Russian heritage, did not relocate to Russia, nor has she in any way renounced the United States.

But Hammon and Bucknell graduate J.R. Holden, who is on the Russian men’s basketball team, represent something that might make you uneasy. And that’s the concept of Olympic “free agency.” Hammon, who will get a large incentive check if Russia wins gold, has said this is really about having a chance at her Olympic dream.

Holden, though, has referred to his playing for Russia as simply “making a living.”

The idea of representing a country in the Olympic Games other than your native land is not news. It doesn’t always involve immigration, but rather a connection/citizenship through genetics. For example, American-born-and-raised Giuseppe Rossi is not playing for the U.S. men’s soccer team, but rather for his parents’ native Italy.

Often it’s been the United States — a nation of immigrants — that has benefited from athletes arriving from elsewhere to compete for the red, white and blue.

Consider Kenya native Bernard Lagat, the reigning world champion in the 1,500 and 5,000 meters in track. He won a silver medal for Kenya in the 2004 Olympics — though he trained and lived in the United States then — and is now a U.S. citizen.

He and the other Americans in the 1,500 — Leonel Manzano and Lopez Lomong — are all immigrants who’ve earned U.S. citizenship. Manzano is from Mexico, and Lomong is from Sudan. Lomong escaped as a child from his war-torn country to Ken- ya, then was adopted by a New York couple.

Matt Tegenkamp, who finished second to Lagat in the 5,000 at the Olympic trials, said he doesn’t even think about where some of his teammates originally are from.

“They may be naturalized, but they are definitely American citizens and have been living the American lifestyle for many years,” Tegenkamp said. “We never pay attention to it, and they’re just another teammate for us.

“It has made the level of track competition rise in the United States, for sure. It means the United States is probably the only country every (Olympics) that is deep enough to send three people in every event.”

But something Tegenkamp mentioned points out the difference between a situation like Lagat’s and Hammon’s or Holden’s. They did not have to immerse themselves in Russian culture or embrace a Russian lifestyle to get Russian passports. Those were expedited after they signed contracts to play with Russian pro teams.

And because they hadn’t competed previously for any other nation in an event sanctioned by the world governing body of basketball, FIBA, they were eligible to play for Russia.

Hammon has said repeatedly she would have given just about anything to play for Team USA if she thought she had a real opportunity. And despite U.S. coach Anne Donovan saying that Hammon did have some chance, the lack of inclusion by USA Basketball in regard to Hammon in recent years did not suggest she truly would have been given much consideration.

Donovan has been critical of Hammon playing for Russia, and it’s easy to understand why she feels that way. Donovan played in two Olympics for Team USA and missed another chance because of the Americans’ boycott of the Moscow Games following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Donovan said earlier this year she’d have to be held down, kicking and screaming, to ever have a Russian jersey put on her. But is her mindset simply that of someone who grew up during the Cold War?

Perhaps, but the decisions of Hammon and Holden to compete for Russia bring up a larger question of what the Olympics is about. Hammon has said it’s about unity and nations coming together.

Which is true, but it’s also about national pride. If it weren’t, why else would teams be categorized by their nationalities?

To that end, some might go so far as to suggest that we’ve become such a global society that the idea of “nationality” eventually might not matter in the Olympics. Instead, teams could be set up along more pragmatic and economic lines, such as Team Nike vs. Team Xerox vs. Team Wal-Mart, etc.

That sounds extreme, yet “free agency” does change the parameters of what Olympic participation means. Should the door be left open for any athlete to compete for any country that offers relatively quick and easy citizenship?

And is there a big difference between what Hammon and Holden are doing and the fact that so many coaches of Olympic sports cross national lines?

Look no further than the U.S. women’s soccer team, coached by Sweden’s Pia Sundhage. Or the U.S. women’s volleyball team, led by China’s Jenny Lang Ping. Both competed in the Olympics for their native countries but now will be trying to help the Americans succeed in the Beijing Games.

The U.S. women’s gymnastics team coordinator, Martha Karolyi, and her husband, Bela, are originally from Romania. Bela is a famed gymnastics mentor who’s guided many American success stories, the most famous being Mary Lou Retton in 1984.

For that matter, Holden’s coach on the Russian men’s hoops team is David Blatt, an American from Boston who played at Princeton.

Sundhage, who also previously worked with China’s women’s soccer team, said that she doesn’t think national borders should be that important to coaches.

“It’s a unique feeling,” she said. “How many people get the chance to coach another country? I would say, ‘You play for your country, that’s all good.’ But I coach for ‘soccer.’

“I’ve seen the changes, all the improvement and development in women’s soccer. So for me, it’s about coaching for the sport.”

For Lang Ping this is particularly intriguing, because she’s still a revered celebrity in China. As a player, she helped the Chinese win volleyball gold in the 1984 Olympics and then coached the team to silver in the 1996 Games. But she will be leading another country’s team in the Olympics in her homeland.

“I think it’s much different than 20 years ago,” she said of her experience at the Los Angeles Games. “International sports is very much international now. In the last Olympic Games, the Chinese men’s basketball team had a U.S. coach (Del Harris).

“I think for coaching, we’re going around the world, and it’s normal. For me, I’m very happy and honored to coach the U.S. team as a Chinese person.”

Still, coaches do not get medals, only athletes do. Hammon has acknowledged that while she would be very proud to win one, it would feel a bit odd to do so as a “Russian.”

But for the next few weeks, that’s what she is.

Bryant leads U.S. to win over Russia

SHANGHAI, China — Russia contained the speedsters. Controlled the backboards. Everything a team needs to do to beat the United States.

Except stop Kobe Bryant.

Bryant provided the offense in the U.S. Olympic team’s first defensive struggle, scoring 11 of his 19 points in the third quarter of an 89-68 victory on Sunday.

The sellout crowd of 14,523 at this arena built for tennis clearly favored the U.S. team, and Bryant clearly was the fans’ favorite.

“It feels like home away from home,” Bryant said. “It’s great to be so far from Staples Center and still have so much support. I feel like I’m home.”

Carmelo Anthony added 17 points in what was by far the Americans’ most competitive tuneup yet for the Beijing Games.

— From wire report