I noted that Bermuda, Hong Kong, and the Virgin Islands are all fielding Olympic athletes. Under what circumstance can a territory/colony send athletes to the games? Would those athletes be eligible to play for the 'mother country', in this example UK, China, and the US?

Mashter

Competitors are entered by a National Olympic Committee (NOC) to represent their country of citizenship. National anthems and flags accompany the medal ceremonies, and tables showing the number of medals won by each country are widely used. In general only recognised nations are represented, but a few non-sovereign countries are allowed to take part. The special case of Taiwan was handled by having it compete as Chinese Taipei, to avoid the issue of Taiwanese independence. www.wikipedia.com Feb 18 06, 8:11 AM