They’re American, except in the Olympics, when they’re Mexican

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Giovanni Lanaro was born in Los Angeles, grew up in La Puente, attended Cal State Fullerton, and coaches and trains at Mt. San Antonio College. Yet when the torch is lighted during opening ceremonies this summer at the Beijing Olympics, the world’s sixth-ranked pole vaulter will be with Mexico, not the United States, Kevin Baxter of the Los Angeles Times reports.

‘I will always compete for Mexico,’ said Lanaro, whose mother was born there. ‘I will never compete for any other country.’

He is hardly alone in choosing to compete for the land of his heritage over the place of his birth -- a growing practice in recent years as the Mexican American population has surged past 28 million, swelling the eligible talent pool that Mexican sports officials have tapped occasionally.

Read the report in full here... and in March, Baxter reported on Javier and Oscar Molina, two United States citizens, born of Mexican immigrants, preparing to compete -- one for Mexico, one for the United States.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City