In a world where great talent in many domains flows across borders, sports are a reflection of the complexity in sorting through which nations have played a role in each medal. Consider what happened at the women weightlifting competition at the London Olympic games.

Maiya Maneza, the woman who set an Olympic record in the women's 63-kilogram category, won a gold medal for Kazakhstan. She used to be an athlete in China's Liaoning and Hunan provinces before her departure for Kazakhstan. 19-year-old Zulfiya Chinshanlo, who took home the women's 53-kilogram class on Sunday, was also born and grew up in China. She transferred to Kazakhstan's team 4 years ago.

Other Chinese athletes have left the nation to seek Olympic glory abroad. In particular, hundreds of stars in table tennis, a sport that China has traditionally excelled at, have competed for other countries. Table tennis player Jun Gao, who won a silver medal for the Chinese team at the 1992 Summer Olympics, later moved to the U.S. and naturalized as a citizen, competing on the U.S. team for three Olympic Games.