Froome - British?

Yossie

Born in Kenya
Schooled in South Africa
Lives in Monaco (and therefore does not contribute to the UK tax thingies assuming he has got his tax planning sorted out properly)

British?

Discuss.

napoleond

Yes, he has a British passport.

/end thread.

gethinceri

Both parents British.
Extend thread/end thread.

me-109

^This / these.

And he beat the French.

daviesee

Not as far as I am concerned.
That means very little though......

VTech

He has a passport and that's it.
He isn't truly British, just like I'm not American.

It's a shame his true country were denied the victory of a citizen.

The Ors

VTech wrote:

It's a shame his true country were denied the victory of a citizen.

They weren't 'denied' anything. Team Sky saw the potential & invested the money. Team Kenya didn't.

VTech

Ohh dear

napoleond

People are confusing the fact that he is British (he is, he has a British passport therefore British) with 'Britishness'....

the playing mantis

hes as british as KP, Trott, darren pattinson et al. actually at least trott/kp live here so hes not as british as those 2 imo.

i thought only on of his parents was british?

hes kenyan. thats it. flag of convenience, i like him either way, but am uncomfortable with him being called britains 2nd winner. wiggo is the only brit winner imo. i think in the sunday times sport article david walsh asked him what he considered home. as the paper has been consigned to the recycling i cant dig it out, but i think the response was when he get back to kenya. that just backs up my opinions i think.

Gazzetta67

Dont worry as soon as he starts going downhill he will be back to being from Kenya, Just like Andy "british" Murray will be back to being Scottish when he loses.... We are the world leaders for building our stars up and next minute slaughtering them !!!!

random man

It must be a bit weird having dual nationality. He seems more proud to be African than British and looked a bit sheepish when the British anthem played in Paris.
He doesn't feel like a Brit to me though, not that that counts for anything :oops:

VmanF3

random man wrote:

It must be a bit weird having dual nationality. He seems more proud to be African than British and looked a bit sheepish when the British anthem played in Paris.
He doesn't feel like a Brit to me though, not that that counts for anything :oops:

What are you doing feeling Froome? Leave him alone!

VTech

Mohamed AL Fayed paid billions in UK tax, employed countless thousands of people and yet could never get a UK passport.

Work that out !

TMP

Nah, he's a Colonial or Colonialist. You have to study the history and background of those people who fled the Old Country, now almost two centuries ago, to live a life in the African Bush and also those who went further afield to live Down Under.

Although Froomie has a British Passport, he's anything but in my view. A British Passport is just a piece of paper.

I'm actually quite liking him, because he doesn't speak too much. But I would like to see him closer to his actual roots. You really have to admire him for his great attitude and demeanor. You'd expect the Cavendish types to put a couple of feet wrong by now, melt into the ground and drown in their own sorrow.

declan1

the playing mantis wrote:

hes as british as KP, Trott, darren pattinson et al. actually at least trott/kp live here so hes not as british as those 2 imo.

i thought only on of his parents was british?

hes kenyan. thats it. flag of convenience, i like him either way, but am uncomfortable with him being called britains 2nd winner. wiggo is the only brit winner imo. i think in the sunday times sport article david walsh asked him what he considered home. as the paper has been consigned to the recycling i cant dig it out, but i think the response was when he get back to kenya. that just backs up my opinions i think.

Wiggo was born in Belgium - does that make him 'British' ?

VTech

He is close to British, his mom is English and father Australian, only bought up in Belgian for a few years as his dad was a pro cyclist.
The true definition of being British is that you were born here to two British parents or you have lived here long enough to call this land home.

alihisgreat

Lets not dress it up as something that it isn't

Froome's Britishness was a shrewd career move so he could access better training, racing, support etc. through British Cycling/Team GB

Do I care?

Not really! He knew what he wanted and Kenya couldn't provide it for him so he found it with Team GB.

rick_chasey

random man wrote:

It must be a bit weird having dual nationality.

Not really. I do.

What's weird about it?

Coach H

declan1 wrote:

the playing mantis wrote:

hes as british as KP, Trott, darren pattinson et al. actually at least trott/kp live here so hes not as british as those 2 imo.

i thought only on of his parents was british?

hes kenyan. thats it. flag of convenience, i like him either way, but am uncomfortable with him being called britains 2nd winner. wiggo is the only brit winner imo. i think in the sunday times sport article david walsh asked him what he considered home. as the paper has been consigned to the recycling i cant dig it out, but i think the response was when he get back to kenya. that just backs up my opinions i think.

Wiggo was born in Belgium - does that make him 'British' ?

No.
Wiggo has (had) Aussie Father, English Mother, born Belgium

bompington

TMP wrote:

Nah, he's a Colonial or Colonialist. You have to study the history and background of those people who fled the Old Country, now almost two centuries ago, to live a life in the African Bush and also those who went further afield to live Down Under.

He's quite handy on a bike for someone who's been living in the bush for 200 years ;-)

Pituophis

I've got huge respect for Froome as a top athlete and (seemingly at least) pretty decent chap, but he's not British.
And now it seems Wiggo isn't either :shock: Damn!

upperoilcan

Froome is as British as Greg Rusedski.

Who was at the time of his sporting best Britains only hope of a Wimbledon champion .....

4kicks

VTech wrote:

The true definition of being British is that you were born here to two British parents or you have lived here long enough to call this land home.

Absolute piffle. Think, then type. Not the other way around.

One of the defining characteristics of our nation was both its ability to integrate others, and the indubitable fact that for at least 250 years we've been sending British nationals across "Empire" to work and live. Have you even BEEN to Kenya? Do you know what most KC (Kenyan Cowboys), the subset of Brits living there, all of whom were born and raised over there, consider themselves to be?
By your definition every kid born to British Military serving abroad, for example in Germany, should be German?
Nationality has never been about where you were born. not for a long, long time, nor indeed is it about residency. Better perhaps to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than open it and prove it.

simonhead

Who cares, he had the opportunity to represent Britain through British Parents and he took it. The fact is that as a Nation we punch above our weight by having (quite) a few imported sports stars, its no different to the way other countries have been operating for years across many different sports.

seanoconn

British

Jesus was born in a stable. Didn't make him a horse

pinno

Kenya is a 3rd world country, how on earth was 'Team Kenya' going to support him?

When I turned 18, despite being born in Kenya, did I get a form so that I could apply for Kenyan citizenship? Erm - NO.
How many cycle teams are made of an eclectic bunch of people from anywhere and everywhere? (Apart form Euskatel and most of FdJ)

This must be a British thing. Nationality seems to be uppermost in peoples thoughts - "Yer noo from aroon' here are ye?" or worse "Ye dinna belong here". Should we not hold Froome up as a superb athlete and admire him for such and then Nationality becomes irrelevant?
We all like Quintana, we all like Voigt, they are not British - so whats the problem? My current favourite is Philippe Gilbert - why should I favour a British cyclist just 'cos he/she is British?
Sometimes patriotism sucks and the British media suck too. Think of all the bad TV coverage (Table Tennis for eg) in the Olympics where there was no British competitor) reminded me of the Atalanta games.
Seemed to be all about how many medals we were winning and less about an international event filled with phenominal athletes.

Rant over.

VTech

4kicks wrote:

VTech wrote:

The true definition of being British is that you were born here to two British parents or you have lived here long enough to call this land home.

Absolute piffle. Think, then type. Not the other way around.

One of the defining characteristics of our nation was both its ability to integrate others, and the indubitable fact that for at least 250 years we've been sending British nationals across "Empire" to work and live. Have you even BEEN to Kenya? Do you know what most KC (Kenyan Cowboys), the subset of Brits living there, all of whom were born and raised over there, consider themselves to be?
By your definition every kid born to British Military serving abroad, for example in Germany, should be German?
Nationality has never been about where you were born. not for a long, long time, nor indeed is it about residency. Better perhaps to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than open it and prove it.

I took that line of text from the collins english edition to describe British People.
I am so sorry you do not link eit but thinking before typing doesnt matter when in fact i simply copied and pasted.

declan1

VTech wrote:

4kicks wrote:

VTech wrote:

The true definition of being British is that you were born here to two British parents or you have lived here long enough to call this land home.

Absolute piffle. Think, then type. Not the other way around.

One of the defining characteristics of our nation was both its ability to integrate others, and the indubitable fact that for at least 250 years we've been sending British nationals across "Empire" to work and live. Have you even BEEN to Kenya? Do you know what most KC (Kenyan Cowboys), the subset of Brits living there, all of whom were born and raised over there, consider themselves to be?
By your definition every kid born to British Military serving abroad, for example in Germany, should be German?
Nationality has never been about where you were born. not for a long, long time, nor indeed is it about residency. Better perhaps to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than open it and prove it.

I took that line of text from the collins english edition to describe British People.
I am so sorry you do not link eit but thinking before typing doesnt matter when in fact i simply copied and pasted.

Sorry :P

declan1

VTech wrote:

4kicks wrote:

VTech wrote:

The true definition of being British is that you were born here to two British parents or you have lived here long enough to call this land home.

Absolute piffle. Think, then type. Not the other way around.

One of the defining characteristics of our nation was both its ability to integrate others, and the indubitable fact that for at least 250 years we've been sending British nationals across "Empire" to work and live. Have you even BEEN to Kenya? Do you know what most KC (Kenyan Cowboys), the subset of Brits living there, all of whom were born and raised over there, consider themselves to be?
By your definition every kid born to British Military serving abroad, for example in Germany, should be German?
Nationality has never been about where you were born. not for a long, long time, nor indeed is it about residency. Better perhaps to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than open it and prove it.

I took that line of text from the collins english edition to describe British People.
I am so sorry you do not link eit but thinking before typing doesnt matter when in fact i simply copied and pasted.

Sorry :P

skylark

VTech wrote:

I took that line of text from the collins english edition to describe British People.
I am so sorry you do not link eit but thinking before typing doesnt matter when in fact i simply copied and pasted.

So Collins is the Colonials version of Wikipedia. Just because you read something in a dictionary doesn't make it so.

You're all right but also off the mark.

Whilst the French had all of Central and North/West Africa, South Africa along with Australia were mainly Dutch descendent. Zimbabwe was a British colony. Kenya along with that East African quarter was manhandled by the British and German Colonials. I actually doubt Froome is British-British. Depends how long the subject remains isolated from the originating population. Wiggo is more British than Froome, despite, because the branching of his ancestry is only a very recent and nearby one.

The situation as to who/what Froome rides for is a political one. In my view he has significant social roots in Southern Africa so I feel that's the kind of world he should be representing. Froome is nothing like your UK cyclist. Totally different mindset and attitude.

The discussion just goes to show in part, the lengths and occupations of what Colonial forefathers were getting up to.