Amos going independent? Is this even possible?

No he can't, unless he gets approval from World Athletics and that seems unlikely.

First step to his 1:39 world record is going independent. He will have a new kingdom soon.

I mean Nijel Amos has done so many PED's he's just lost his mind. Reminds me of Reyes Estevez right now.

"Going independent"? - good luck mate, good luck.

He can't run Oly or WC but otherwise, what rule states you have to belong to one of WA's member federations? Those championships are run by WA, but not every race in the world is. Training and racing completely legal. No out-of-competition testing either, since you're not on anyone's list. Just have to be ready after the race. Great way to dodge some regs and random hassles.

So even if he's living in someplace in the US, USADA/WADA can't test him? That doesn't sound quite right.

That's not how out of competition drug testing works. If you are one of the fastest runners in the world you will still be drug tested by one organization or another. You can't completely skip it altogether just because you are no longer representing your country.

In order to be in a testing pool, some organization has to put you on a list. No national federation will if you're not a member of one. USATF isn't going to put you in theirs just because you're training in Flag. Why isn't Newbury Park ever tested? Because they belong to no federation, that's why.

I read into this more as a plea for some other country to take him in. Surely Qatar will take him, at worst. At best, the good ol USA.

He'll still be subject to testing if he wants to race in big meets.

Yep, Quatar will take him in and he'll run 1:38 in the Paris final, maybe even double the 1500m. The collective response from the LetsRun demographic will cause a worldwide shortage of tissue paper.

Wrong. Ever heard of the AIU? The Athletics Integrity Unit, which serves as track and field’s independent anti-doping watchdog would certainly test Amos if he's in a country accessible to testers.

Amos is in many ways the 800 GOAT with his 1:41's so many years apart, and so many 1:42's it became commonplace.

He’s really not. Just looking at sub-1:43 performances Amos isn’t even close:

Kipketer - 20 (4 sub-1:42)

Rudisha - 16 (7 sub-1:42)

Amos - 7 (2 sub-1:42)

You said Amos ran so many 1:42s that it became commonplace. He ran 1:42 five times.

Rudisha and Kipketer were both fast for a long time. They broke 1:44 nine and ten years in a row, respectively.

Amos running 1:41s seven years apart is impressive but it doesn’t make him the 800 GOAT.