Spare Tyre said:
Don't you know any non-cycling people who have changed nationality at some point?
I imagine the whole issue of representing your nation prompts a little thinking about which nation you most identify with and wish to represent.
I don't, as in people who gave up one nationality for the other. I do know people who have two or even three nationalities. In other sports and outside sports. The thing is, I don't mind if someone has 20 nationalities but in my opinion you shouldn't be able to compete for more than one country.
1) Chances are high lots of people from the country you used to represent payed money to see you compete, supported you etc. It shows little respect to just sweep them aside like a bag of dirt.
2) The country you used to compete for invested a lot of money in you. Or well, the tax payer of the country you used to race for.
3) A lot (I'd say 7 out of 10 times) of times sportsmen who aren't good enough to compete for their 'home country' suddenly change their nationality. Or in team sports sportsmen who come from a country that is quite bad.
4) In for example Haussler's case, couldn't he have figured out he wanted to race for Australia earlier? He held double nationality his entire life, right? So first he's like "I want to race for Germany" and then all of a sudden he wants to race for Australia? Just make up your mind

5) It just kills sports. Usually you support someone who's from your own country or region because you can somehow identify with that person, for for example geological reasons. What if all sportsmen kept changing nationalities? I'm pretty sure there wouldn't be so many spectators for World Championships.
What I do understand is that for example when you hold 2 or 3 nationalities you don't exactly know for what you country you'd like to compete. Because of that all sports should do the same thing as football. You can change until you've made a cap/appearance for the country's 'first team'. Or you represented the national elite team, in cycling.
It's just my opinion on the subject. I'm not old fashioned or conservative at all. I don't care much for nationalities, as in people should be judged by what they do and are rather than where they come from but in sports, in order to keep it 'healthy', there should be clear and strict rules regarding nationalities.