Lagat is NOT an American

Dan Onymous wrote:

Tegenkamp finishing 4th means infinitely more for American distance running than Lagat's two titles do. Hell, Webb finishing 8th means infinitely more. And everyone on this thread knows it.

Only to an anti immigrant racist would it mean infinitely more.

To me I'm proud and happy an AMERICAN won both the 1500 and 5000. I don't care which American as long as it was an American that won.

ethiopian, kenyan and moroco are victum of their own athletics fedration.

corupted, neptisum, to some extent trabalaism.

the result is losing athletes like lagat and mariam ysuf( zenebech tola)

calirunning29 wrote:

The thing is most kids who run can't look at Lagat as role model. I am not saying he is a bad guy. What I am saying is we need someone the kids can relate to. Not some really fast Kenyan who ran 2 Olympics for Kenya then at age 32 wins 2 gold medels for America. We all know it’s not the same as Webb winning a Gold.

I love to watch Lagat run and he seems like a great guy. But for American distance running we need more people like Hall, Tegenkamp, Goucher, and Webb to help.

What the f*** is wrong with you?

The function of an athlete is not to inspire young kids.

ALL athletes are genetic freaks. If Lagat is "really fast", then what would that make Webb if he'd won a gold medal? "Really slow" still?

Dan Onymous wrote:

Tegenkamp finishing 4th means infinitely more for American distance running than Lagat's two titles do.

------------------------

Clealy showing that this is a race based view on running.

Following this logic if Mottram was running for the US he'd be cheered on far more than Lagat ever would. Because kids could "relate" to him.

The reality is that US distance running is in the dumps. The only "real" American who had ashot at medalling would have been Webb, and he failed.

And this means that African immigrants are the next hope for US distance running as far as medalling is concerned.

Deal with it. kids should be running because they enjoy the sport and want to get better. It shouldnt matter if its Lagat or Meb of Ritz or Webb who inspires them. Let them decide for themselves.

Right now its all about jealousy, envy and racism.

Lagat showed the world what it means to be American.

you all are fools. it takes YEARS to get US citizenship. he could only apply for a green card once he married a US citizen. then after that you still have to wait 3 years to apply for citizenship and that takes another 1-2 years to process in the ridiculous beaurocracy that is the USCIS. next time, do some research before making ignorant statements. I'm guessing that if he got his citizenship in 2004, then he started the whole process in the late 1990s (when he graduated from WSU). btw, you cannot apply while a student b/c students are on non-immigrant F-1 visas.

trfk779 wrote:

Still Not American wrote:

Yes you are! But did he run for Kenya for the last 10 years? Did you wave the kenyan flag at the WC with the finger in the air only a few short years ago?

If he was so American, why did he wait so long to apply for citizenship?

Could not of said it any better

At last someone that makes sense (Old Runner).

lill wrote:

you all are fools. it takes YEARS to get US citizenship. he could only apply for a green card once he married a US citizen. then after that you still have to wait 3 years to apply for citizenship and that takes another 1-2 years to process in the ridiculous beaurocracy that is the USCIS. next time, do some research before making ignorant statements. I'm guessing that if he got his citizenship in 2004, then he started the whole process in the late 1990s (when he graduated from WSU). btw, you cannot apply while a student b/c students are on non-immigrant F-1 visas.

trfk779 wrote:

Could not of said it any better

You counld not be MORE WRONG! you can look up yourself when He (Lagat) applied for citizenship. But, I am sure you knew that.

Lagat is more of an American the the Governor of California, that's for sure. He certainly has a better grasp of the English language and is much easier to understand. if nothing else.

But that doesn't stop many Republicans from wanting to amend the Constitution just so Arnold can run for President someday. So it would be fine for a foreign-born white man to run for President, but it's wrong for an African-born runner to represent the US in international competitions. Talk about a double standard.

I agree completely that Lagat is a real American. But as you point out, young US runners cannot relate to him as they could to someone like Mottram. As American as Lagat is we all know that his early life was not like the early life of 99% of today's US distance runners.

When Shorter won the Olympic marathon in 1972 he inspired hundreds, probably thousands of guys who'd been good to semi-good high school runners but who'd given the sport away to start training seriously. The reasoning, and I knew several of these guys, was that Shorter had run high school times comparable to their own, had a life similar to their own, so maybe they could do something along the lines of what he'd done. There is no way that a Lagat or Kefleghizi can reproduce that response among young American born runners but yes, a Mottram or Gary Lee possibly could.

My son is in his second year of high school racing. He's decent and ambitious. He's not envious or racist. But he was far more inspired when Tegenkamp was a step from the bronze than he was by Lagat's two golds and that isn't a slight to Lagat.

If you're a big fan of Lagat or Kefleghizi or Abdiraman I can understand that you'd like them to get universal acclaim here and that's your privilege. But if I, or anyone else here is more a fan of Mottram or Craig or Tegenkamp for whatever reason that also is our privilege and you have no business assigning your own narrow minded and nasty motives to us.

Please tell me exactly when someone becomes an American so I know who to cheer for and against.

I'd say an American is someone who grows up in America. Maybe from no older than the age of 6. A kid growing up in America is gonna be waaaay different than a kid growing up in Africa and moving here when he's 15 or whatever. He's already shaped by then.

Note to Letsrunners: The horse is dead, please stop beating it.

calirunning29 wrote:

But for American distance running we need more people like Hall, Tegenkamp, Goucher, and Webb to help.

No Krummenacker...?

I agree its dead, but I do wish some of the old timers, ex-pro runners who post here regularly would stand up for Lagat and explain to these dumbazzes what he means to the future of distance running in America.

Where are wineturtle, malmo, hodgie, jerryjogger etc (unless theyve commented on this issue elsewhere)?

Would you consider that malmo, hodgie, et al, don't bother to click on idiotic threads like this one? Jerryjogger is a whole nuther story. He probably started this thread.

Tommy2Nuts wrote:

I agree its dead, but I do wish some of the old timers, ex-pro runners who post here regularly would stand up for Lagat and explain to these dumbazzes what he means to the future of distance running in America.

Where are wineturtle, malmo, hodgie, jerryjogger etc (unless theyve commented on this issue elsewhere)?

The people who refuse to accept Lagat's citizenship will not be persuaded by a few posts on an internet forum, no matter who is posting. Bigots tend to be a stubborn lot by nature. Lagat is a class act and we are lucky to have him represent the US in international competition. If these people can't see that, there's nothing that can help them.

I wonder which is more inspirational for Lagat?

Running as a Kenyan or running as an American?

He ran a 3.26.34 1500mt as a Kenyan.

I wonder if his ‘road to Damascus’ conversion will motivate him further and provide the Yankee-Doodle with the world record - as another Kenyan did with the 800 for Denmark.

It is not being a bigot to suggest that Lagat is not "true" American. Yes, we all know that he is LEGALLY an American. He probably has a handy-dandy bit of paper documentation that proves it as well.

But the bottom line is that he was born a Kenyan and will always be a Kenyan. Lagat may be a U.S. citizen, but those of us who were actually born in the United States are the true Americans.

The people who defend Lagat as being an American are simply those who want to live vicariously through the success of others, and they jump on the Lagat bandwagon because he is the only successful distance runner with even remote ties to our great country.

I'm a pretty liberal and accepting person, but I can't look at this Kenyan lad and call him an American just because his singlet says USA. He is what he is, a great Kenyan runner.

I'm glad you don't make the rules. You don't seem liberal or accepting at all. At least not on this issue. If he's a US citizen, he's just as American as anyone else. That's what the law says, and the law takes precedence over your narrow opinion. I'm happy for the guy because he's a class act. I have to question the motives of anyone who's looking for reasons to knock him down.

[quote

I'm glad you don't make the rules. You don't seem liberal or accepting at all. At least not on this issue. If he's a US citizen, he's just as American as anyone else. That's what the law says, and the law takes precedence over your narrow opinion. I'm happy for the guy because he's a class act. I have to question the motives of anyone who's looking for reasons to knock him down.[/quote]

Nobody is trying to knock him down, everybody is respecting Bernard lagat and giving him props, but we admire him as a kenyan runner.

as for me, i'll be happy when Webb, the real american Middle distance runner accomplish a double in Beijing 2008.