Ah the eternal Letsrun question, to which the eternal answer is..does it really matter if he is or isn't 19?
If all these runners are so much older, how come no one ever gripes at older African runners who win open races? I mean when was the last time anyone said they should win both the open AND masters prize money because they look so old?
No, that would be too much to ask.
Typical bunch of haters.
fortunately, it doesn't matter at all, unless you're trying to guess how good he could be, because he's racing in the open competition. The fact is that Africans do not have any incentive to tell the truth about their age and there is no rigorous legal system certifying age. Yes, the Kenyans and Ethiopians should have the best juniors, since they have the best seniors, but that does not mean that their juniors should already be running 3:32 or faster when the seniors have recently topped out only a couple seconds faster. Kiprop doesn't have Webb's pr's right now, but you can bet that he will toast the mile and 1500m pr's this year. Unfortunately, there does not look like there will be any rivalry, since Webb hasn't run well in two years. But if he gets it back, it would not be bad. Webb did run 3:35 last year in Europe after the 3:55 at Pre. Maybe he will do better this year?
According to Kiprop's facebook profile, he was born on December 25, 1986, which makes him 2 1/2 years older than his "official" IAAF birthday. This is a relatively modest discrepancy by Kenyan standards - (I personally know one member of Kenya's junior team from World XC in Amman and he is ten years older than his official IAAF birthday). This doesn't mean the Kenyans (and Ethiopians for that matter) wouldn't still dominate the junior scene if they only raced bona fide juniors. I cannot speak for Ethiopia, but in the Kenyan case, it's certainly not a symptom of greed among athletes, but of the graft and incompetence that defines the country's athletics governing body.
He does..... Jelimo looks 30
Why should we have 17-18 year olds racing 25 year olds in college? The reason we have eligibility restrictions in the NCAA is to ensure that each generation has a fair chance to win the collegiate championships. These are the rules that keep collegiate sophomores from racing some old American distance runner who thinks his name could get a boost out of winning the NCAAs and goes back for one semester.Where do you call it fair having a talented 18 year old from Ohio racing a 22 year old Kenyan who has had four more years to train, but happens to have a bogus birth certificate?
I love racing, I love running and I am all for discovering who is the best. But 25 year olds belong in the professional circuit racing against other professionals, not racing against teenagers right out of high school. NCAA eligibility rules have age limits to them with good reason.
Pros should run against pros, leave college for the people that age.
you do realize we're talking about kiprop right. And kiprop is racing with the pros so it shouldn't matter how old he is. Not quite sure why this thread was brought up in the first place but it definitely seems like someone is pissed that he is succedinng and webb isn't.