After issuing the findings of its review into the Olympic hero’s defection to Great Britain, Cycling Australia’s upset is understandable

Conflicting national allegiances in sport are no simple thing. It is hardly unreasonable for someone with more than one national background to feel competing tugs when it comes to flying the flag on the international stage. Emotion and pragmatism collide to force hard decisions.

Australia is a deeply multicultural nation – more than one in four Australians were born overseas, while millions more have parents born elsewhere. We are a nation of complex sporting allegiances. I have dual nationalities; if it wasn’t for the fact that I have all the sporting talent of a gnat, I might have to consider which country to represent.