freekiprop wrote:
I’m conflicted on this. In general I don’t like the older runners in the NCAA (Mantz, Clinger, Hacker, Ayyildiz, any of the 28 year old Kenyan freshmen), and I do think it’s lazy that coaches just fill their teams with ready made talent. But I do think there’s a lot of selective outrage focused mainly on Kenyan distance runners, including those who are (allegedly) a proper age. People use age as a cover for what they really want to say, and then that breaks down when the ages are all ‘normal’
Ceili McCabe is Canadian and graduated high school in 2019, but she was universally celebrated on these boards when she won indoors. All the foreign distance winners this weekend are (allegedly) younger than her by several months (Lemngole) or several years (Musau, Kosgei, Kipkirui). And to my knowledge, none of these 4 could be classified as pros before the NCAA either
I am saying this sincerely, please stop trying to make this a racial issue when it is not. American kids: black, white, asain, hispanic, straight, and gay are currently having their college opportunities taken by these foreigners. I and many others here have seen it first hand. Have you seen anyone of us advocate for replacing every Kenyan with a white American only? Also, I can guarantee you the foreign sprinters referred here specifically are not taking spots from white guys, if you look at the start line of any state 100m final in America.
At the same time, there is a legitimate problem with Kenyans that have nothing to to with their skin color: doping. Both age cheating and old fashioned drugs. These are all well documented, just go check the WADA lists yourself. Last time I checked Kenya had at least 130 banned athletes while most Europeans countries had 1 or 2, if any. I would still prefer the NCAA to be mostly American, but a 23 year old amateur German (who can actually have that aged verified) is not comparable to the literal pro Kenyans that coaches are bringing over from the world's premier doping Hotspot. My opinion would be the same if the hypothical German was also black. We have already had 3 or 4 major NCAA Kenyan doping busts in the last 2 seasons, despite the NCAAs poor testing.
So let's stop the race baiting and actually try to help our kids.