I was reading the Olympic rulebook, and there are a bunch of very strict rules on who can't compete, based on the general principle that the competitors be amateurs.
But just preceding those rules there is a paragraph saying (paraphrased) "these rules can be ignored by the officials so long as the spirit of only amateurs is preserved".
Yet, it turns out that tennis was not part of the Olympics for years because the International Tennis Federation was against the rules regarding amateurs. So in 1988 they brought it back with absolutely zero restrictions, meaning any tennis player in the world can play at the Olympics, including professionals.
Does anyone happen to have a list of which sports in the Olympics totally ignore this rule, in addition to tennis?