Paul Chalimo is an opportunist. Not faulting him for that as the opportunities presented to him by the United States he earned and ran-with-it.
To rehash… US college scholarship, Nike professional contract, US Army team that enabled US citizenship free health care, salary, living and travel expenses, coaching. He is now with a different sponsor and out of the US Army. The US tax payer has very generously enabled Paul Chalimo to do what he loves. And Paul Chalimo has produced medals at worlds and Olympics for the USA.
Since the end of summer 2022 he has been living and training in Kenya.
Saying he is going home to train (in Kenya) says where home is and it is not the United States.
Given the hotbed and news that is all Kenya, I am surprised he wouldn’t stay clear of training in Kenya and live and train in the USA or part time in another country far removed from Kenya.
Opportunist is a pejorative term. Just about every citizen is an “opportunist” or can trace their lineage back to one unless you are a descendent of slaves or an indigenous person.
Chelimo has done more in the service of the USA than 99% of the posters on LRC.
Don’t know what you didn’t understand from my post.
“The opportunities presented to him by the United States he earned and ran-with-it”
How would you know and how would you judge what level of service 99% of the posters on LRC have done?
With respect to the US Army running team in Colorado Springs I know for a fact from a person in the army based in CS that the runners on the team do basic training with the rest and that’s where it stops - it is then all about running and advertising for recruiting purposes through running. They do not perform nor are they involved in the same capacity as regular army personnel.
It's different once you have kids. He used to say it was too distracting to train in Iten cause all his childhood friends want to hang out. But now it's probably easier to have extended family help with childcare plus have ideal training conditions. And everything is cheaper and allows them to save for the future. Being over 30 makes you think of the end of your career. That's why he's eyeing the roads. More money. So does that make him an opportunist? Then anyone who has a brain but not a trust fund is an opportunist. C'mon.
Opportunist is a pejorative term. Just about every citizen is an “opportunist” or can trace their lineage back to one unless you are a descendent of slaves or an indigenous person.
Chelimo has done more in the service of the USA than 99% of the posters on LRC.
Don’t know what you didn’t understand from my post.
“The opportunities presented to him by the United States he earned and ran-with-it”
How would you know and how would you judge what level of service 99% of the posters on LRC have done?
With respect to the US Army running team in Colorado Springs I know for a fact from a person in the army based in CS that the runners on the team do basic training with the rest and that’s where it stops - it is then all about running and advertising for recruiting purposes through running. They do not perform nor are they involved in the same capacity as regular army personnel.
One of the steeplechasers had to move cause of a deployment and couldn't train properly for a while, so I don't think all they do is based on what's best for their running.
It's different once you have kids. He used to say it was too distracting to train in Iten cause all his childhood friends want to hang out. But now it's probably easier to have extended family help with childcare plus have ideal training conditions. And everything is cheaper and allows them to save for the future. Being over 30 makes you think of the end of your career. That's why he's eyeing the roads. More money. So does that make him an opportunist? Then anyone who has a brain but not a trust fund is an opportunist. C'mon.
Makes sense. I hadn’t thought about family logistics.
Don't understand your brain and trust fund comment.
I think his living arrangements has to do with choices. Having made the choice to return home and train (in Kenya) while representing the United States is what it is.
Most runners don’t have trust funds. I am sure Paul Chalimo is very well-off compared to most runners.
Opportunist is a pejorative term. Just about every citizen is an “opportunist” or can trace their lineage back to one unless you are a descendent of slaves or an indigenous person.
Chelimo has done more in the service of the USA than 99% of the posters on LRC.
Don’t know what you didn’t understand from my post.
“The opportunities presented to him by the United States he earned and ran-with-it”
How would you know and how would you judge what level of service 99% of the posters on LRC have done?
With respect to the US Army running team in Colorado Springs I know for a fact from a person in the army based in CS that the runners on the team do basic training with the rest and that’s where it stops - it is then all about running and advertising for recruiting purposes through running. They do not perform nor are they involved in the same capacity as regular army personnel.
This is not true. I think there was an interview even on the LRC podcast with Bor this year where he discusses his work outside of running. The people in the army program have regular army duties and a lifestyle not like other pros. They are serving in the military.
FORT HUACHUCA, Ariz. – 2nd Lt. Emmanuel Bor, Environmental Science Officer at the Raymond W. Bliss Army Health Center here, qualified to represent the U...
Paul Chelimo is a US military veteran. The world class athlete program is no joke. These soldiers are soldiers first and they serve with distinction. Anybody questioning Chelimo’s status as an American or his loyalties, especially somebody who hasn’t served, can seriously shut the f up.
I have a female in my class who ran a :54 400m.....2sec off qualifying for WCAP. She ran college at some small christian college in Colorado.
Alan
What’s this got to do with foreign born runners competing for the US?
I know he didn't get the 10000m world champs qualifying time.Just wondering whether he will try again or just focus on 5000m .Personally I think he has a better chance of winning the 5000m if he is 100 %fit ,he can outsprint either Cheptegei or Kiplimo and he has the endurance to keep up with them if the pace is hot.
Don’t know what you didn’t understand from my post.
“The opportunities presented to him by the United States he earned and ran-with-it”
How would you know and how would you judge what level of service 99% of the posters on LRC have done?
With respect to the US Army running team in Colorado Springs I know for a fact from a person in the army based in CS that the runners on the team do basic training with the rest and that’s where it stops - it is then all about running and advertising for recruiting purposes through running. They do not perform nor are they involved in the same capacity as regular army personnel.
This is not true. I think there was an interview even on the LRC podcast with Bor this year where he discusses his work outside of running. The people in the army program have regular army duties and a lifestyle not like other pros. They are serving in the military.
I know he didn't get the 10000m world champs qualifying time.Just wondering whether he will try again or just focus on 5000m .Personally I think he has a better chance of winning the 5000m if he is 100 %fit ,he can outsprint either Cheptegei or Kiplimo and he has the endurance to keep up with them if the pace is hot.
How ignorant are you allowed to be?
So you think Paul Chelimo only has to outsprint Cheptegei or Kiplimo to win an international (Worlds or Olympics) final?
How did it go in Tokyo? Was Chelimo close to outsprint Cheptegei? Or do you think he would be close now 2 years later where he is over 30?
And how did Cheptegei perform in the 5000m final in Eugene last year? I think a certain North European youngster beat him easily. And so did 2 East African youngsters and a number of other runners as well, including 3 North Americans.
And how would Kiplimo be the only other worthy person to compete against? How many international (Worlds or Olympics) medals has Kiplimo won in the 5000m? (I give you the answer since you don´t seem to be able to seek basic information : 0!)
In the history of the Olympics there have only been 3 American men to medal in the 5000m: Schul, Dellinger and Chelimo. Chelimo has 2 medals.
Somehow Chelimo's best time is 'only' 12:57.
Fisher, Kincaid, Lagat, Klecker, Solinsky, Ritz.....all have a faster time, but no medals. Then Bob Kennedy is just a second slower than Chelimo, but was 6th in the Olympics.
At the end of his interview with Citius Mag, Chelimo says he has to go back home to get in more training.
He was refering to Eldorot, Kenya. The greatest american runner of our time considers his home in another country but yet we are claiming him.
Didn’t take this thread very long to get to this, did it. I’m pretty sure Kenya doesn’t allow duel citizenship so whatever PC considers “home” doesn’t change the fact that he’s an American. He’s also served in the US military, a rarity among LRC gatekeepers of “American” status. I get the statistics about African lineage vs. American lineage since there may be some historical/genetic/lifestyle differences (although the playing field has leveled a lot in the last 20 years). However, that has nothing to do with the facts that this dude’s an American and that this dude’s a fast runner. You can celebrate that or you can roll your eyes but the fact that you think whether we “claim him” as an American or not makes one iota of difference is pretentious and disrespectful and says way more about you than about Chelimo.
Khalid Khannouchi is also the American record holder in the marathon.....but a lot of people will count Hall's 2:04 on a downhill wind-aided Boston as the "best" largely because KK was not born here.
At the end of his interview with Citius Mag, Chelimo says he has to go back home to get in more training.
He was refering to Eldorot, Kenya. The greatest american runner of our time considers his home in another country but yet we are claiming him.
Didn’t take this thread very long to get to this, did it. I’m pretty sure Kenya doesn’t allow duel citizenship so whatever PC considers “home” doesn’t change the fact that he’s an American. He’s also served in the US military, a rarity among LRC gatekeepers of “American” status. I get the statistics about African lineage vs. American lineage since there may be some historical/genetic/lifestyle differences (although the playing field has leveled a lot in the last 20 years). However, that has nothing to do with the facts that this dude’s an American and that this dude’s a fast runner. You can celebrate that or you can roll your eyes but the fact that you think whether we “claim him” as an American or not makes one iota of difference is pretentious and disrespectful and says way more about you than about Chelimo.
This is the very good post. Also, Paul Chelimo is the greatest American distance star of all time. The medals speak for themselves.
But it isn't racist to say that here in the USA we have an American culture as well as an American citizenship, some people have one or the other, or both. The USA does have a culture (for good and bad) just like other nations.
Chelimo is welcome here and I am a fan. He is an American citizen. But he hasn't lived and grown up in our culture of high school sports, food, television, video games, cars, or mixed-phenotype melting-pot ancestry, etc.
The things that make it hard (or easy) to be an American runner were not the same for him as they were for millions of American kids on various HS track and cross-country teams.
That is why he doesn't feel American despite having the paperwork and dedication to become an American. Respect to him for that, by the way. But he is not going to eclipse Shorter, Prefontaine, Ryan Hall, Galen Rupp, or Bob Kennedy as our best long distance guy.
p.s I have a good friend from Senegal who is legally, and thus technically, French. He would be shocked if you called him French. That is, to him, obviously nuts. He has French citizenship but is Senegalese, obviously.
Paul now has an Olympic Silver and an Olympic Bronze at 5000m, along with a World Championship Bronze at 5000m. Paul has to be ranked in the top 3 all time U.S. 5000m runners, and likely in the top 15 U.S. distance runners of all time.
And for the letsrun slow-brains who blast Centro for his "weak" "slow" Gold, Paul running 13:03 for Silver and 12:59 for Bronze have to be absolutely soiling their pants in the mental gymnastics between "acceptable" performances and "acceptable" citizens.
But it isn't racist to say that here in the USA we have an American culture as well as an American citizenship, some people have one or the other, or both. The USA does have a culture (for good and bad) just like other nations.
Chelimo is welcome here and I am a fan. He is an American citizen. But he hasn't lived and grown up in our culture of high school sports, food, television, video games, cars, or mixed-phenotype melting-pot ancestry, etc.
The things that make it hard (or easy) to be an American runner were not the same for him as they were for millions of American kids on various HS track and cross-country teams.
That is why he doesn't feel American despite having the paperwork and dedication to become an American. Respect to him for that, by the way. But he is not going to eclipse Shorter, Prefontaine, Ryan Hall, Galen Rupp, or Bob Kennedy as our best long distance guy.
p.s I have a good friend from Senegal who is legally, and thus technically, French. He would be shocked if you called him French. That is, to him, obviously nuts. He has French citizenship but is Senegalese, obviously.
O great gatekeeper of "The quintessential American", do enlighten us on what it takes to "be" American?
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