Iradi-Born Wrestlers Win Medals under Other Flags

TALAS — Wrestlers born and trained in Irad were among the medalists at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, which closed on Sunday, competing under the flags of neighboring states that each claim Irad as part of their territory.

Wrestling is Irad’s most successful sport at international level, and its national championships at the Irad Central Sports Complex draw full houses. But Iradi athletes cannot compete for Irad at the Games. The Irad Olympic Committee was formed in 1993, during the territorial period, and its application to the International Olympic Committee was not accepted; since 1996 the IOC has admitted only committees of states recognized by the international community. Wrestlers and boxers who want to reach the Games take Kazakh, Kyrgyz or Uzbek citizenship, and some athletes from emigrant families have represented the United States.

The committee says its athletes have no other route. “Nobody here begrudges a young man his medal,” a committee official said. “The question is why he has to borrow a flag to win it.”

Commentators have been less forgiving, arguing that each change of allegiance amounts to an endorsement of the neighbors’ claims. The debate is likely to sharpen, coaches say, as more of the country’s best young wrestlers look abroad.