At the Tokyo Olympics, she stormed through the 400m semifinals in 50.51 seconds—fast, fierce, but just shy of the final. Her gold-medal dreams lived on in the 4x400m relay, where she scorched her leg in 49.6 seconds, sending Team USA to the final. Fast forward to 2025, Wadeline Venlogh stunned American fans by stepping away from the squad to get ahead of the career curve, and within months of that bold move, she’s already rewriting records.

Global Athletics Hub confirmed on X that 27-year-old Venlogh has switched her allegiance to Haiti. A Haitian by birth, Venlogh now looks poised to don her native colors on the global stage in Tokyo. It all started when she was absent from the USATF Championships, which shocked fans who had been eager to witness her compete. “The 27-year-old looks set to represent her country of birth at the Tokyo World Championships,” wrote on the post.

Reason? Well, Venlogh never really came out and stated the reason for the change. However, many believe that the level of competition, as well as the overall competitive nature of the sport, forced her to change the course of her career trajectory. And her decision is already bearing fruit for her.

At the NACAC Championships in Freeport, Venlogh clocked 50.23 seconds in the 400m, setting a national record for Haiti. While it was just above her personal best of 49.60, the time was enough to secure her a second-place finish. She was beaten by Jamaican hotshot Nickisha Pryce, who clocked 49.95 seconds. In third place was Lynna Irby-Jackson, who ran 50.47 seconds.

Now that she is representing Haiti, she will also be at the Tokyo World Championships representing it. But why Haiti? Talking to the media, she revealed, “I moved to the U.S. in 2009. I was 11 and a half. My mom was already living here. She had two kids here with one on the way, but there were four of us left in Haiti. I was living with my grandmother and grandfather. In 2009, we all came to the U.S. together.”

Things were not easy for her in the U.S. either, but they were manageable. With her decision, she became one of the very few athletes to change allegiance from the U.S. But she is the first athlete to walk this path?

Wadeline Venlogh is not the only one!

For those who think Wadeline Venlogh is the only athlete from the U.S. to change her allegiance, well, that’s not true. Remember the River triplets? Helaina, Henniyah, and Henry Rivers IV from Long Island, N.Y., made history as the first African-American triplets in the nation to earn the prestigious Eagle Scout rank. But that’s not all, they are decorated athletes as well.

Training on the slopes of Argentina, these alpine skiers won’t be flying the U.S. flag, but Jamaica’s. Their choice? A heartfelt tribute to their late mother, proudly carrying her island roots onto the world stage. While having a conversation with the media, Helaina stated, “My mom came to the U.S. when she was young, so she obviously did not grow up skiing, but she learned how to ski when she met my dad.”

Both of their parents(Karen and Henri) are certified ski instructors and alpine race coaches. Talking to the media, their father, Henri, stated, “We’ve been working on the plan for almost 20 years. It started before they were born. It could have all been derailed if they didn’t like snow, if they didn’t wanna ski, because I wasn’t gonna force them.”

Preparing for the upcoming Winter Olympics in 2026 in Italy, all three of them are rooting to represent the Jamaican flag side by side — but will their dreams be fulfilled? Only time will tell.