Is Solomon Haile really 20 years old?

In all likelihood he is not a US citizen. That's why a look at his passport might clear up a few things. The US embassy in Addis, Ethiopia, presumably did a better job verifying his age/family relations etc before issuing a visa. They are very serious about this --- even include an email address to report suspected fraud.

Of course, we don't know what kind of visa he has. We don't even know what proof of age he had for MCPS. A birth certificate wouldn't make as much sense as his passport, which he must have --- otherwise he would not have been able to enter this country.

Sorry for the confusion about the quotes - was afraid someone would think it was a quote from the article. That phrase comes from explorers encountering more primitive peoples:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_savage

Milsted did not make any friends among coaches

All Kevin did was put out the questions that were asked along with the rumors and then the facts that came out of the hearing. He did something that needed to be done to clear up a lot of the confusion.

Whether you agree with the findings of the hearing or not this is where it stands.

There really seems to be a handful of people involved in the sport in MD that will not rest until Soloman gets drug thoroughly through the mud. I don't even think that innocence or guilt is an issue anymore at this point for them.

What are you kidding? There's only a handful that support him. Most feel he has fallen through the cracks. That Montgomery County article was like a birthday card.

Any updates on this situation? When is the MD state meet?

state meet is nov. 8. in the meantime, haile has broken the course record at regionals by 6 secs., set in 1991 by (later) Olympian Pascal Dobert.

It is extremely easy to get fake documents abroad:

"Consular officers at six of the posts reviewed—Accra, Addis Ababa, Dhaka, Kathmandu, Lagos, and Warsaw—reported that the availability of fake documents, or genuine documents with false information, such as birth certificates, marriage certificates, and passports, presented significant challenges when verifying DV applicants’ identities and the relationship between the principal DV applicants and their spouse and dependents."

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d071174.pdf

That's why the US Embassy has a dedicated fraud department in Addis,

http://ethiopia.usembassy.gov/fraud_prevention.html

Given the seriousness of any offense, I doubt that Haile used a fake birth certificate when he got his Ethiopian passport and US visa. On the other hand, that doesn't mean that the records he produced for the school are 'real.'

Another piece of information: As per a Supreme Court decision, schools are not required to ask for a student's visa status or a passport. That's why as far as MCPS is concerned, they have done their job. Of course, they also have no incentive to get to the bottom of this.

Looks like age cheating is all too common:

"Thomas Longosiwa, convicted last year for falsifying his age to gain a place on the junior team, was a surprise winner in Saturday's men's 5,000m race on the final day of the national championships, also trials for All Africa Games in Algiers next month."

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200706/18/eng20070618_385202.html

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200608/09/eng20060809_291388.html

And the Kenyans accuse the Ethiopians of cheating:

"Kenyan head coach Julius Kirwa has attributed Kenya's below par performance at the just concluded world cross country championships to injuries and the fielding of over age athletes by arch rivals Ethiopia...Kirwa who was speaking at the JKIA soon after the team arrived home claimed Kenya failed to win individual titles in the 6km junior women and 8km junior men races because their major opponents from Ethiopia were much older."

http://www.kbc.co.ke/story.asp?ID=49146

good article today in the washington post.

i just have one question though. per the article, he has a birth cirtificate. when the post went to the haile's they would not show it to the post. if nothing to hide then why hide it?

at this point it does not matter. an "alleged" investigation was completed to which haile admits to accepting checks, gift cards, and such. but since none of the checks were cashed it's okay.

unless there is more of a smoking gun then has already been fired numerous times, this kid is going to continue to run indoors and outdoors.

here's the link to the post's article.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/07/AR2008110703798.html?sid=ST2008110802230&s_pos=

sorry, but this kid is a whiny bitch! Get out of America...not only do we not wan you here, but being in this country will eventually ruin your running.

Sarah Palin, You have a lot of time on your hands

haha funny wrote:

sorry, but this kid is a whiny bitch! Get out of America...not only do we not wan you here, but being in this country will eventually ruin your running.

Ethiopians are the best distance runners on the planet. They won the 5K and the 10K at the Olympics. They're the reigning cross-country world champs. They have the world record in the marathon. There is not an American alive that can run with their best. The fact that an Ethiopian kid could come to the U.S and dominate American kids should only be a surprise to the uninformed. They've investigated this poor kid forward & backwards. Unfortunatley, the ignorant and the uninformed will continue with their anonymous assaults on him, regardless of the facts.

if looks are anything he is much older than he says

What are you talking about? His age has never been "investigated." He never showed anything but his birth certificate to the school. He didn't show the birth certificate to the Washington Post reporter, and he never showed his passport and visa to the school, school district, or reporter.

the whiny bitches are the people that keep losing to this guy and trying to get him banned. Chill out, train and quit being a bunch of pussys. I know that is difficult to ask the spoiled wimpy little white boys on letsrun. It must suck to get your ass kicked time and time again!!! hahaha

Hey BEEN DONE BEFORE, to say his age has never been investigated is idiotic. Instead of making stuff up why don't you use the SPRITE method of attack and say, "Uh well, he looks like he's older than he says he is". Expressing a biased opinion is safer than countering documented fact. You'd still look like a loser, but not necessarily an idiot.

Even the original Dyestat article that tried to fry him (it incorrectly reported he'd received financial gain from races)showed:

Edward “Ned” Sparks, Executive Director of the state-wide MPSSAA, reiterated the county findings in a separate phone call.

“This school system is certainly well-equipped to handle this situation,” he said. “We feel they carried out due diligence…the birth certificate he presented translates to a birth date of the twenty-third of January, 1990. It coincides with school records from Ethiopia. Short of the State Department or the FBI getting involved, we’re going to accept that.”

i agree the boy has been investigated and cleared to run there is not anything else which can be done so leave the boy alone most of the people hating on this boy are just mad because he's kicking all the american runners' asses so grow up and realize us americans arent the only ones in this world, and to the first person who posted on this thread you are a ractist and have no right to call the country of ethiopia a shithole have you been there i guess not so shut the f*** up and keep it moving