LAGAT IS NOT AN AMERICAN

didnt lagat marry an american women?

what the hell does "transparity" mean? that's not even a word.

i agree with most of this....i don't look at the thoes results and think, america track is looking good.....i look a few guys down and see Goucher.

I'm sorry I don't think the imigration service cares that much about Track and Field athletes. Maybe they do and if they sped up his citizenship oh well, he is the second fastest man ever to run a 1500.

It's a subtle point you make. And your right -- assuming certain facts upon which you base your hypothesis. Generally, people embrace celebrity, distinction, and power. Relatively speaking, Bernard Lagat has all of those things. The new American citizen working at McDonald's, again keeping in mind the assumptions on which your hypothesis is based, does not. Accordingly, the young woman who just served your fries and shake (chips) is going to be thanked by you -- at best. If she's good looking you may even ask for her number. But, she's not going to be cheered for doing her job, nor offered a lucrative endorsement deal with Nike. Of course, because of what he does for a living, and he does it very well, Mr. Lagat will be cheered and paid handsomely. And of course, people will readily embrace him and his accomplishments. Notwithstanding, this writer believes both persons are successes. You see, success, like beauty, is in the eye (mind's eye) of the beholder. And so, the fact that you do not consider Mr. Lagat a U.S. citizen, although according to the U.S. Government he is, is not really your point, is it? Finally, your post proved provocative!

future American wrote:

truthhh wrote:

Where was he born?

And you were born in a vagina and thus will remain a pu$$y forever.

lol

2 more months and i will become an American and make the team next yr

anybody else here see the colbert report interview where he said that people from D.C. are not United States citizens because the District of Columbia is not a state?

truttth wrote:

p.s why do they fastrack applications for citizenship from such people and take forever to process other normal applications?

WTF are you talking about, n00b?

its not racist its common sense, just because you call something by a different name doesnt change what it is. Oh lagat was Kenyan in 04' but now he's American, the Kenyan record is 3:26, the American record is 3:30 or whatever, thats f_cking stupid. A nationality is not a team. and its not even a "hater" issue, its blatantly obvious, he competed for Kenyan for years, f_cking duh he's Kenyan and no papers he signs can change that, you joe p.c. idiots need to use your heads.

Actually the papers he signed did change that. Again this isn't about him setting an AR, its about weather he is an American or not.

I consider Lagat to be an American, although I'll be the first to admit that I still disagree with Shaheen and the other distance guys that Qutar seems to be purchasing to represent them.

Do any of you see a difference between Khannouchi and Lagat as opposed to the Qutar athletes and if so, is it just because these foreign guys are running for us now or what?

i think everything changes when one is talented enough to compete on the world stage representing a nation, and obtaining national records.

There is definitely a difference between Lagat and the Qatar athletes. Lagat went to college here and has lived here for a really long time, I think has an American wife, and America has been (correct me if I'm wrong) his home since college. He's as American as you or me.

So you don't want to see him compete for the USA or have American Records? Just trying to get clear what you are saying here, not trying to be a dick.

The U.S. and many other countries, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China, Germany, Japan, Korea, Iran, Israel, Syria, etc. are actually NOT TRANSPARENT socially and politically -- especially in sports. You think what you can see through is real, but it isn't. Therein lies the rub. Your perceptions are in fact not based on the reality you believe you're seeing. The Wachowski bros. film "The Matrix" is about this. Other visionary writers have observed this as well, Gene Roddenberry, H.G. Wells, George Orwell, Octavia Butler.

Here's an example from the U.S. sports annals that applies to all of the countries above:

1. Leading up to WW II, DURING THE HEIGHT OF THE JIM CROW ERA IN THE U.S., the U.S. used Jesse Owens to win gold medals in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. During this time, African-Americans were segregated in society and on all Olympic teams.

http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/home.htm

2. In response to the foregoing, not one of the above-mentioned nations protested nor boycotted the Olympic Games.

3. When it came time to fight WW II, the U.S. was happy to sacrifice African-Americans to fight the war and die despite the FACT that they were not EQUAL citizens and lived in an APARTHEID nation.

4. The U.K. and France were no different.

Hell nobody is American except the Indians, if you want to get technicial.

Le Got sounds french to me?

Lagat is an American. However, I can understand why people might not see Lagats good results with as much excitement as they may see an American born American. This is not because we are racist or because we dont consider Lagat an American, but rather because when someone born in America puts up a time close to 13 it shows that even people whose childhood did not contribute to running (having to run to school) can still run fast times. Lagats results do not show an improvement in American distance for years to come, but American born runners do.