This gun's for hire.Will work for gold

It might have seemed like patriotism gone wild when the two members of Georgia's man's beach-volleyball team stitched the nicknames Geor and Gia onto their uniforms,spelling out the name of their besieged nation.But there's a twist,neither of the players is really Georgian.Renato Gomes and Jorge Terceiro are towering Brazilian imports recruited by Georgian President Mikhel Saakashvili for the sole purpose of representing his country in the Olympics.More athletes than ever are competing in Beijing under flags and in some cases,names different from the ones under which they were born.While some see this border-jumping as a symbol of how sport transcend nationality,giving some worthy athletes a chance to escape hardship in their home countries,others see it as a potential violation of the Olympic spirit.What is not legtimate,Jacques Rogge,the International Olympic Committee chief,has said,is when an athlete sells himself as a mercenary.The gold medalists in recruting foreign-bron athletes are Qatar and Bahrain,tiny oil-rich Gulf states that have shelled out million of dollars to persuade top African runners to change their citizenship.But many other nations play this game.Russia,for example,recruited two Americans cans to lead its men's and women's basketball teams.The strategy can pay off.Moroccan-born Rashid Ramzi gave Bahrain its first-ever track and filed gold at Aug.19 when he won the men's 1500-m.In globalized era,even athletic excellence can be outsourced.