But the expression, as it appeared in The Guardian, seems to have a different meaning than you're familiar with, so it's the same words expressing something different. From The Guardian: " ... they’ve had a knack for gagging away Olympic opportunities. The last time they captured a medal was in 2012, but that was later stripped for a doping violation" - so not meaning, "to be very eager to do something". Unless it is supposed to mean that the team in question gets so eager that they make mistakes or break rules (doping, for instance) ... I don't know - maybe that IS what it means ... ? Anybody?