If Kenyans Don't Know Their Birthday, Is Lagat 42?

Barack H Obama Jr is half Kenyan.

Have we seen his real birth certificate??

Maybe he's 36. He did hit the elite scene kind of late.

Rol wrote:

According to most, Kenyans don't know their true birthdays and they are usually 3 years older, on average, that what they think.

Is Lagat 42?

Where did this 'thing' come from- that we don't know our true birthdays?

Well, if we are 'usually 3 years older, on average...', then, shouldn't we just add three years to our unofficial age to arrive at the real age?

To claim that we don't know our real age/birthday certainly doesn't make sense.

It doesn't even begin to make sense.

I hope I am making sense.

Lagat wasn't good as a junior so they didn't have to mess with his age then.

Rol wrote:

According to most, Kenyans don't know their true birthdays and they are usually 3 years older, on average, that what they think.

Is Lagat 42?

That's probably a question that applies very specifically to Lagat. To begin, it's quite possible that Lagat could be one of the Kenyans who DOES have a documented birth certificate. Alternatively, yes, he could be several years older than what is documented, and the top US 5000m runners could have just been dominated by a 42 year old.

Lagat has been running since 1998 at a very high level. He's definitely his age if not older. One key aspect about Lagat that most overlook is that he started seriously training at age of about 20-22. His coach has been on the record before saying that Lagat was running 20 minutes a day when he first arrived to the US, at 5 minute pace! He recognized him as a once in a lifetime talent. He is an amazing running talent and started later on, similar to the 10k great Tergat. This is the key to his longevity in the sport!

Most American's start to seriously build their aerobic base in their teens and research shows that most aerobic athletes have a span of ten good years to build to their peak development before a plateau and subsequent regression in ability are seen. Therefore, one might expect Lagat to have reached a 5k peak around 2008. Lagat is also the second fastest 1500m runner ever! Why do people overlook 3:26.1! If not for the winner of that race Lagat would have the WR to this day. His progression, current age and ability should not be a surprise to anyone.

*3:26.34

running with the devil wrote:

Barack H Obama Jr is half Kenyan.

Have we seen his real birth certificate??

I am not Kenyan.

Logicistic wrote:

Lagat has been running since 1998 at a very high level.

He ran 3:37.7 in Nairobi in 1996.

Many Kenyans from rural areas start school later than most, because they can't walk/run to school until a certain age. When they get official passports the their school year is used to estimate their birth date. It's not ALL Kenyans, just certain ones. And in many cases they know their own birth date but that's not what's on the passport.

You can usually tell by their performances whether it's real or not. If a Kenyan runs 12:53 at age 17... he is probably older than what his passport says. If he wins a silver medal at age 39... he is probably not.

OP, East Africans are age cheats. All of them, always, no matter what age they are at.

So, Lagat was at least 23 when he claimed to be 18. Now, at 39 there is no way he is a day older than 34.

Ftards, surrounded by em, am I wrote:

OP, East Africans are age cheats. All of them, always, no matter what age they are at.

So, Lagat was at least 23 when he claimed to be 18. Now, at 39 there is no way he is a day older than 34.

The Lagats aren't just age cheats or nationality cheats, they're identity cheats. Some time around 2007 Bernie and Robert pulled a switcharoo. Now 39-year-old "Bernard" is killing it while 31-year-old "Robert Cheseret" is washed up. (Need I remind you Robert had the better NCAA career.)

Noir wrote:

Many Kenyans from rural areas start school later than most, because they can't walk/run to school until a certain age. When they get official passports the their school year is used to estimate their birth date. It's not ALL Kenyans, just certain ones. And in many cases they know their own birth date but that's not what's on the passport.

You can usually tell by their performances whether it's real or not. If a Kenyan runs 12:53 at age 17... he is probably older than what his passport says. If he wins a silver medal at age 39... he is probably not.

So you're saying when a Kenyan with a a receding hairline wins world youths 800 after a 48-second first lap, he might not actually be 17?

Sometimes the stupidity on this board stuns, in a bad way. I don't know how this ridiculous myth started but most Kenyans know their true ages and birth dates as it's a matter of government record. The Rift Valley, where most of these runners are from, is NOT the kind of remote like the arid semi-desert regions in Northern Kenya bordering Somalia, where nomadic folk have minimum use of government services.

Also, you'll be shocked most of these athletes didn't "run" to school with some even discovering their talent after high school. Paul Tergat is one example as his school was just a few metres from his house. I do realise the image of a barefoot kid in tatters running through hills and valleys (even though they exist) makes for a romantic story, though.

lagat is a bigger drug cheat than the postal team!

If all the Kenyans are the right age, why has Kitum (for example) gone backwards since he was supposedly 17-18?

No 17-18yo goes backwards in the next 3 years. They are still developing and haven't peaked physically.

Maybe they know their age, but I struggle to believe they run in the correct age group.

Sure, because comparing a performance of genetically gifted group of people who put in a lot of miles on their legs early in life and comparing them to expectations of Americans is more accurate that an official record. Come on...are we this stupid? Are they all 100% accurate? Probably not, but saying you can tell how old someone is by how they look and how fast they run when you don't live in that culture is ridiculous.

Noir wrote:

Many Kenyans from rural areas start school later than most, because they can't walk/run to school until a certain age. When they get official passports the their school year is used to estimate their birth date. It's not ALL Kenyans, just certain ones. And in many cases they know their own birth date but that's not what's on the passport.

You can usually tell by their performances whether it's real or not. If a Kenyan runs 12:53 at age 17... he is probably older than what his passport says. If he wins a silver medal at age 39... he is probably not.

El Keniano wrote:

Also, you'll be shocked most of these athletes didn't "run" to school with some even discovering their talent after high school. Paul Tergat is one example as his school was just a few metres from his house. I do realise the image of a barefoot kid in tatters running through hills and valleys (even though they exist) makes for a romantic story, though.

Not terribly important. Even if they don't run to and from school, it's unlikely that they are less physically active in their daily lives than their North American and European counterparts.