In the Felix Sanchez wins gold thread the topic of how he ended up representing the DR arose. Around the web, there are reports that he actually wanted to represnt the US initially, couldn't make the team, and then chose to represent the DR instead.
However, that belief is wrong!
Felix wanted to represent the DR all along, according to quotes attributed to him in an extensive report published by a reputable magazine a few years ago (see link below). The article includes:
For those who cannot read Spanish, an approx translation is:
"To win a medal for the US doesn't make you anything special, they simply tell you that you have done the expected job" (says FS). He indicated that if one does it for the DR, one gets the affection of an entire nation, which extends to all Latin American countries, of which one becomes a representative. "For me that is more important than money", asserted Sanchez.
(see also the --unexplicably and unfortunately closed -- thread about the Latin American Nation for additional perspective).
It is quite clear he wanted to represennt the DR from the get go.
The article further adds that he had great difficulties getting in touch with the proper DR authorities (which he started back in the mid 90's when he was only a teenager). He eventually got in touch with Manny Mota, a former player and then (and I think still) coach for the LA Dodgers (FS went to college in LA), through whom he eventually made the right contacts.
FS also indicates that ca. 1999, when it was already known that he had chosen to represnt the DR and his performance started to indicate great athletic potential, many in the US started questioning his decision to represent the DR, but that he never wavered.
I hope this settles this issue, and most importantly points other foreign-born Dominicans (or foreign-born Latin American) in the right direction.
Felix Sanchez: to be Dominican has its advantages (in Spanish)
However, that belief is wrong!
Felix wanted to represent the DR all along, according to quotes attributed to him in an extensive report published by a reputable magazine a few years ago (see link below). The article includes:
For those who cannot read Spanish, an approx translation is:
"To win a medal for the US doesn't make you anything special, they simply tell you that you have done the expected job" (says FS). He indicated that if one does it for the DR, one gets the affection of an entire nation, which extends to all Latin American countries, of which one becomes a representative. "For me that is more important than money", asserted Sanchez.
(see also the --unexplicably and unfortunately closed -- thread about the Latin American Nation for additional perspective).
It is quite clear he wanted to represennt the DR from the get go.
The article further adds that he had great difficulties getting in touch with the proper DR authorities (which he started back in the mid 90's when he was only a teenager). He eventually got in touch with Manny Mota, a former player and then (and I think still) coach for the LA Dodgers (FS went to college in LA), through whom he eventually made the right contacts.
FS also indicates that ca. 1999, when it was already known that he had chosen to represnt the DR and his performance started to indicate great athletic potential, many in the US started questioning his decision to represent the DR, but that he never wavered.
I hope this settles this issue, and most importantly points other foreign-born Dominicans (or foreign-born Latin American) in the right direction.
Felix Sanchez: to be Dominican has its advantages (in Spanish)
