is Mo Farah with the NOP anymore?

coach comments nicely wrote:

He raced this weekend in the Great Britain jersey. I don't know if every runner had their country's jersey on or if he no longer wishes to represent the Oregon Project.

Discus.

He's still with the NOP. He heads to E. Africa to do his doping + altitude training (and avoiding off season spot tests).

Wonderer Of Things wrote:

But how did he get that British accent?

Actors make up fake accents all the time. How is it you don't know this?

Heyyo wrote:

its scary how much effort letsjog is putting into such a moronic premise.

OK, so if a guy ran for University of Oregon for a couple of years, and then transferred to University of Portland, while also spending one quarter of the year at the University of Alabama, wouldn't it seem weird to you if they still wanted to race representing the University of Oregon?

And if what I'm saying is so absurd, somebody please explain to me, just what IS the point of having an event like the European Championships? Originally, presumably the premise was that people who were born, lived, trained, etc in Belgium competed against people who did the same in France, England, Russian, etc. Why? Why didn't they just have an Athletics Championships, without nationalities? Presumably, the idea was to have some way of showing off the abilities of each nation in friendly competition. People wanted to see which group of people was superior. Again, I'm not saying that's right, or wrong, but that's what the European Championships (and the Olympics, for that matter) is. Later, populations became more mobile, and not everybody who represented a country was native-born. People adapted to this. But at some point, you have to ask, what is the point of having somebody represent a group of people if they don't even feel close enough to that group of people to live there?

Do you people have a problem with the native-born requirement for being US president? Good idea or not, we all understand the idea behind this requirement. Requirements for competing for a country are much more lenient, but eventually it just becomes absurd, like Kenyans competing for Qatar.

letslobber, how do you know that Farah doesn't love Britain? Has he said as much?

I have a problem with Farah running in a GB uniform in an event where he hasn't been selected to represent the country. The only time one should don the uniform of a country is when one is specifically chosen by the country to represent that country on that day. I don't recall there being a national selection process for an indoor meet in Birmingham. He doesn't race in a GB uniform when he is racing in the US or on mainland Europe so the whole patriotic angle seems to be rather selective. Probably got a few more dollars in the bank for going the extra distance in the name of publicity stunts. Ditto the Robertsons, it should be pretty clear when you are on representative duties and when you are not. Nick Willis doesn't pull that kind of cheap rubbish.

coach comments nicely wrote:

He raced this weekend in the Great Britain jersey. I don't know if every runner had their country's jersey on or if he no longer wishes to represent the Oregon Project.

Discus.

Only f'tards say discus instead of discuss

Just about every GB athlete was wearing the national kit at that meet, it's a promotional thing.

Mohamed "Mo" Farah:-

Somali Name

Somali Religion

Somali Birth

Somali Parents

But 100% British, makes sense eh?

The facts I have illustrated are undisputable. It's mathematically impossible to be 100% of two things at the same time so in saying Farah is as British as any other British athlete including native born ethnic Brits is implying that he has no connection to Somalia at all, 0%.

Add to that

Somali mother tongue

LetsJog.com wrote:

And if what I'm saying is so absurd, somebody please explain to me, just what IS the point of having an event like the European Championships?

There IS no point to it.

Guys I suggest y all collectively chill out about this for a while, everyone at Letsrun is getting too upset once again.

Just put yourself into Mo\'s shoes for a sec. Came to the UK at age eight (out of his control), started living in London. His talent for running was discovered and developed there, through the UK club system. In England is where he has found his wife, has his family his background. I m sure that Mo loves England, and regards it his home.

Europe today is a continent with high influx of immigrants, and in particular the UK has long been multicultural. Therefore it is perfectly normal, and even part of its culture, to have UK citizens with roots outside the kingdom. So we can understand Mo wanting to run in a uniform representing his country, knowing he will attack the world record.

And what\'s so hard about checking back into the reality of the 21st century where our (western) athletes have the financial resources, and find infrastructure in place which allows them to train in other countries for a limited period of time? We live in a globalized world, We are not pre- WW2 anymore.

So this whole discussion needs to stop, and Andy Vernon needs to get off twitter and start competing.

KlayMaster wrote:

Mohamed "Mo" Farah:-

Somali Name

Somali Religion

Somali Birth

Somali Parents

Farsi name

Arabian religion

Djibuti upbringing til age 8

British parents - yes, his father was born and raised London

Read a book

'Farsi name

Arabian religion

Djibuti upbringing til age 8'

Clearly missed my point, does that make him more British then? To be technical the first two categories are Arabic/Arab/Muslim and he was still born in Somali not Djibuti.

Retardalert.. wrote:

Only f'tards say discus instead of discuss

You must be new here.

LetsJog.com wrote:

HELLO MCFLY wrote:

were you living under a rock this week?

According to reports, Vernon actually said that he (Vernon) should have been European champion when he finished 2nd to Farah at Europeans. That doesn't sound all that outlandish. Farah is from Africa, and lives in the US, except when he's training in Kenya. What's European about that?

Both are former British Colonies?

Africa was a British Colony? You read "special" history books, indeed.

Explain to me how he doesn't love the country just as much as Lagat does his? Every interview is about how much he wants to represent his country. He trains in America and Kenya because that's where the talent is. Many many many athletes spend plenty of time training in countries like Kenya. It's foolish to give Mo crap for this. Vernon is just a mediocre boar who doesn't like that Mo Farah is a little bit cocky and he has to lose to someone with that personality. And yes I am a big Mo Farah fan. Call me an NOP fanboy, I don't care haha.

Let's not forget the context behind this. Andy Vernon said that Mo should not have been European champion. The two of them agree on the facts of this. Where they diverge is that Mo took grave offense, whereas Vernon said "it was just a joke".

Yes, "Just kidding", and implicitly, "If you don't laugh along while I insult you, then you're even more of a loser than I thought".

I'm sure most of us remember this strategy from middle school, either giving or receiving. And most have grown out of it.

In the current UK context, for a white kid from a wealthy ex-urb to say this to an immigrant kid from the city is pretty alarming.