It is the ultimate gift for a sports director: an unknown athlete with Olympic potential, who reports that he would like to compete for the Netherlands and has the correct passport. Even better: if it’s twins.
It happened to Vincent Kortbeek, technical director of the Athletics Union. Out of nowhere, Eugene and Jaimie Omalla (23) presented themselves last year. Born in the Netherlands, raised in Uganda and studying on an athletics scholarship at a university in the American state of Kansas. Specialty: the 400 meters.
‘They came up with the question themselves. It came out of the blue,” says Kortbeek.
About the author
Mark van Driel has been writing for over twenty years de Volkskrant about Olympic sports such as tennis, skating and athletics.
At first contact the two seemed like a long-term asset, but in February Eugene Omalla completed the 400 meters in 45.18 seconds. A great time, by Dutch standards. Only one athlete, Liemarvin Bonevacia, has ever been faster.
Key role
On paper, Eugene Omalla seems like an asset who can play a key role in the golden ambitions for the 4×400 meter relay in Paris. Three years ago, in Tokyo, the Netherlands won silver. No man or men’s team has ever won an Olympic gold medal. Last weekend, Omalla made her debut at the World Relays in the Bahamas: the Netherlands finished tenth and missed out on a place in the final.
“The guys are really nice,” he says of meeting his new teammates. He certainly did not feel like an intruder in the close-knit team, which is among the world’s best. Many of the sprinters recognized themselves in his situation; Churandy Martina, Liemarvin Bonevacia and Terrence Agard initially played for the Netherlands Antilles, but turned to the Netherlands when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) released the Antilles from its status as an independent sporting nation in 2010.
“We talked about it a lot,” says Omalla, who alternates between speaking Dutch and English. ‘There are many similarities with that choice to change country, although the difference is that I never officially came out for Uganda.’
Sports migration
Sports migration is more common. With the Olympic Games approaching, there appears to be an administrative final sprint: last month, Surinamese swimmer Renzo Tjon-A-Joe also obtained Dutch nationality.
Everything indicates that at least ten participants will participate in Paris who have played sports at a high level for another country or could have played for another country. In addition to Curaçao, they come from Mexico (archery), Greece (sailing), Suriname and the United States (swimming).
Conversely, Dutch people sometimes also go abroad. Last weekend, judoka Kim Polling announced that she wants to compete at the Olympic Games for Italy, the country where she has lived for years.
For Omalla, migration is inextricably linked to life. He and Jaimie are only 23 years old, but have already lived in four countries: seven years in the Netherlands, seven years in Uganda, four years in Kenya and five years in the United States.
Father Tim is from Uganda, mother Wilma from the Netherlands. They met 25 years ago, when his mother was doing volunteer work in Africa. Together they came to Zoetermeer, where the twins spent the first seven years of their lives. They moved to Uganda when their parents decided to start their own Christian foundation: Child’s Destiny of Hope. He builds schools and wells.
From Kenya to the US
The brothers moved again at the age of 14, this time to Kenya, where they attended a boarding school for four years. Their favorite sport was rugby, but they saw that athletics offered an opportunity for a good education in America: many Kenyan long-distance runners follow that route.
They attempted the 100 meters in their final school year. To their own surprise, they soon turned out to be good enough for a scholarship to the state of Illinois. Omalla: ‘After six months we ran 10.7 and 11 seconds. Those are good times for six months of training.”
Due to recurring hamstring complaints, the twins shifted their attention to the 400 meters after two years on the advice of a coach. That turned out to be a golden opportunity. Thanks to their progress, they quickly rose from a university in Louisiana to the University of Kansas, which plays in the highest division of the American student competition. They will likely compete in the national college championships in June.
Their good performance was not noticed in Uganda. They were never selected for a team, there was hardly even any contact with the association. This is how the plan arose to approach the Netherlands with the idea of further training in athletics at Papendal after completing their studies (bachelor’s degree in business administration, master’s degree in personal financial planning).
World toppers
Omalla: ‘Last year I said to Jaimie: we also have a Dutch passport. Let’s make contact and see what is possible. From the first moment they took us much more seriously than the Ugandan team, even though we weren’t running as fast as we are now. That says something about how people will treat you.’
For Vincent Kortbeek of the Athletics Union, this interest was self-evident. Foreign athletes have contributed greatly to Dutch success. The proximity of world top players such as Troy Douglas (Bermuda), Churandy Martina and Lornah Kiplagat (Kenya) has fueled the association’s ambitions. Kortbeek: ‘We are not recruiting abroad. All these people have a direct connection with the Netherlands.’
There are all kinds of reasons why sports nationalities change. There is often a combination of factors: a cross-border love of athletes or their parents, the possession of dual nationality and the search for better sports facilities or development opportunities. In some sports there is simply less competition in the Netherlands than in, say, the United States – for example in swimming and athletics. The Dutch scholarship system also offers opportunities to earn an income from sport.
In a sense, sports migration follows global developments: research shows that 3 to 5 percent of the world’s population lives outside the country of birth. The Dutch team for Paris has an estimated 280 athletes, including ten sports migrants. That amounts to more than 3.5 percent.
At previous Games, athletes have already competed for the Netherlands who had grown up in countries such as China (table tennis), Indonesia (badminton), Argentina (hockey), Kenya (athletics), Russia (table tennis), Bermuda (athletics), South Africa (hockey). ), Dominican Republic (athletics), Ghana (athletics) and Scotland (hockey).
Warm welcome
No matter how common sports migration is, some newcomers are received more warmly than others. The Omalla brothers have lived in the Netherlands longer than the two most popular athletes of the moment: Mathieu van der Poel and Max Verstappen. The rider (French mother) and driver (Belgian mother) compete under the Dutch flag without having lived a single day in this country.
Omalla has already experienced that his choice for the Netherlands raises questions in some circles. It is the fate of people with dual nationality, he knows. ‘The biggest drawback is that in two countries you are treated as if you don’t belong. In Uganda they say: he is half Dutch. In the Netherlands you are half Ugandan. That’s hard sometimes, you get yelled at.’
The young athlete closes himself off to negative reactions. ‘It is important to know in your heart where you come from. I have a strong connection with two countries. I always say that I am one hundred percent Dutch and one hundred percent Ugandan.’
‘Beautiful signs’
For Omalla it is crystal clear that his dual nationality also has a positive side. He has lived in several countries and knows the different cultures. This enables him to choose and shape his own identity against that background. ‘Ultimately you have to choose what will help you most, where you will get the most opportunities. I think my brother and I can really contribute to the Dutch team. Together we can flourish.’
The Athletics Union also has confidence in the twins, who will come to Papendal after the Olympic Games to train full-time with the national sprint team. Technical director Kortbeek is not concerned about the political climate in the Netherlands. Labor migration may be a sensitive topic in the formation, but he does not expect the athletes to be disadvantaged by this.
Kortbeek sees successful top athletes such as Sifan Hassan and Abdi Nageeye – both of whom grew up partly in the Netherlands – as ‘beautiful showcases’. This also applies to athletes who came to the Netherlands at a later age, such as Churandy Martina and other members of the relay teams.
Perhaps there is a similar role for the Omalla twins. Kortbeek: ‘The sport is an excellent reflection of today’s society.’
