Great results from the crew out there in Washington DC.
1. Edose Ibadin 1:44.81
2. Vincent Crisp 1:46.29
3. Quamel Prince 1:46.46
4. John Lewis 1:48.70
5. Jacob Dumford 1:49.35
Would be a new Nigerian NR for Edose (1:45.60 previous best) but wasn’t part of an offical meet.
To put things into perspective Edose is really fully American through and through apart from using the Nigerian passport for running purposes.
Nothing wrong with that as one of his parents is Nigerian but he has lived all his life in the US and I think the only time he went to Nigeria was when he participated in the African games.
Edose Ibadin (born 27 February 1993) is an American-Nigerian runner who specializes in the 800 metres.
He finished seventh at the 2018 African Championships. He competed at the 2017 World Championships, the 2019 African Games and the 2019 World Championships without reaching the final.
His personal best time is 1:45.60 minutes, achieved in May 2019 in Nashville. This is the current Nigerian record.[1]
He ran collegiately for the Hampton Pirates[2] and then attended graduate school at Towson University from 2016 to 2018 while training with the District Track Club. Competing in the 2016 US Olympic trials as "unattached", he later changed allegiance to Nigeria.[3]
Fully American?
He's Nigerian born and represents Nigeria and is American educated.
Great performance lowering his NR by about a second.
Just another traitor. Not quite good enough so he sells his soul.
AA USA wrote:
Just another traitor. Not quite good enough so he sells his soul.
So, you are slow. OK.
My point being it would have been difficult for this runner to have attained that high level at 800 m living and training in Nigeria from a young age.
This is not a criticism but merely an observation. It would have been extremely surprising had he accomplished his formative years and trained throughout in Nigeria to take that level. Nigeria is hardly a hotbed for middle-distance running. Soccer is by far the most popular sport there although Nigeria has some very good sprinters especially among the women.
AA USA wrote:
Just another traitor. Not quite good enough so he sells his soul.
wait I thought we weren't supposed to like it when the africans living in the US represented the US because it meant they were taking spots from Americans?
Who told you that? If they moved here and became a US citizen, then they are as American as you and me. But some of these athletes who were born here but had a parent from a different country represent a different country, they are just Americans who found a way to get to a higher level. Some couldn't locate the other country on a map.
I don't get these people that were born raised and trained in the US and then race for another country.
Tameka Jameson and Olivia Ekpone both ran in MD , were born raised and trained here (even though Jameson is from DC and somehow was allowed to run for Eleanor Roosevelt in MD) and then race for some African country.
AA USA wrote:
Just another traitor. Not quite good enough so he sells his soul.
Or it’s called 1:44.8 doesn’t get you on the team in America. If the selection process was different maybe he could make it here. If the goal at the end of the day is to be a world or Olympic medalist, wtf does it matter why winglet you’re wearing? Nigeria is extremely underfunded when it comes to athletics so it’s actually WORSE than being on Team USA. You’re too blinded by your Make America great again hat you have on too tight. The sport is about competition, not about who you run for!!!!
This young man is an American, plain and simple. Like a lot of Americans, his parents were born elsewhere, which provides an opportunity -or better stated, a loophole to represent another country. I will never agree with athletes representing a nation that has played no part in their athletic development.
What if you were 8th man on your high school team senior year but your state allowed open enrollment so that you could go to the school 2 miles down the road to be 3rd man on your rival team all while living on the same block as 2 of your friends who are now competitors? Do you cheat on your wife if a lady smiles at you in the office? Do you ditch your best friend if a wealthy guy all of sudden wants to be your bud?
JRinaldi wrote:
Great results from the crew out there in Washington DC.
1. Edose Ibadin 1:44.81
2. Vincent Crisp 1:46.29
3. Quamel Prince 1:46.46
4. John Lewis 1:48.70
5. Jacob 1:49.35
And some people still claim Jacob can run 1:44
Edose being a close friend of mine who I talk to regularly, I know he knows all about his culture. It’s part of who he is. You guys did the exact same thing to Sam Parsons but hey that’s the “American way”. Crucify anyone who does not believe in being American 100%.
TrackCoach wrote:
This young man is an American, plain and simple. Like a lot of Americans, his parents were born elsewhere, which provides an opportunity -or better stated, a loophole to represent another country. I will never agree with athletes representing a nation that has played no part in their athletic development.
You speak the truth. But at least in the case of this runner there is a connection to Nigeria through one of his parents where in countries like turkey and Qatar they blatantly buy runners from Kenya and Ethiopia and fast track them to nationality within 1-2 years. when you hear Edose (check him out on YouTube) there is absolutely no trace of the Nigerian accent showing that he has basically never spent any time there significantly if ever. Once again this is not a condemnation of Edose but it is true that he is seeking an opportunity and using that loophole - but again that is not illegal.
Honestly if I were the 8th man on a state championship team and the team down the street said I could run at the state meet if I wore their jersey, I'd wear that jersey in a hot second. Loyalty is great be USA track and Field and the USOC does little to nothing for athletes like this, they might get a couple of bucks a month to train but in reality they are on their own. If Nigeria wants to allow him to compete in the Olympics under the condition that he wears their jersey, I think it's a smart move on his part. Do we even need to discus how our bad Olympic trials system is, consistently leaving higher end athletes and world record holders sitting at home after losing to someone who had a good day.
JRinaldi wrote:
Great results from the crew out there in Washington DC.
1. Edose Ibadin 1:44.81
2. Vincent Crisp 1:46.29
3. Quamel Prince 1:46.46
4. John Lewis 1:48.70
5. Jacob Dumford 1:49.35
Would be a new Nigerian NR for Edose (1:45.60 previous best) but wasn’t part of an offical meet.
John Lewis ran 1:48.33 his senior year of HS five years ago. Yikes.
It seems he last competed for a U.S. team in 2017. As he was in his mid-20s, it seemed reasonable that he wouldn't be able to make a U.S. team with a pr of 1:46, so this seemed a lot like Sam Parsons. The bravey who competed for Greece actually had a solid shot at an American team in the 10000m. But Edose had already made enormous leaps in the 800m from 2:10 in 2010, and was stagnating a bit in the 1:46 range. He kept chipping away, as he says in a twitter post that gives his incredible progression from 2010 to 2020, and now at 1:44.81, he actually would have quite a good shot at contending for an American team, especially when you consider that he's not training with 1:42-44 guys (yet). If he were training with a Donavan Brazier, what could he run? Even if competing for another country when you're born and raised here is not preferable (especially if you are either an absolute lock for the team, like the LSU pole vaulter or have no shot whatsoever), his progression is inspiring.
DTC probably has one of the deepest mid distance squads right now in the country. It'll be interesting to see what their women's team can do (if they ever race this summer)
Jazmine Fray-NCAA record holder, Julia Rizk- indoor champ, Maddie Kopp and Michelle Howell- both USATF semifinalists
From Edose's Twitter:
"800m Progression
2009: 2:05.9
2010: 1:56.2
2011: 1:52.5
2012: 1:53.1
2013: 1:49.4
2014: 1:48.3
2015: 1:48.1
2016: 1:46.3
2017: 1:45.8
2018: 1:45.69
2019: 1:45.60
2020: 1:44.81
Trust the process and keep chopping wood.??"
Rather than speculating about his nationality/citizenship, let's just be impressed by the perseverance and consistency with which this man has improved. Really impressive that he has set a personal best in the 800 every year of his career except for his freshman year of college.