Charles MF Hicks!!! 45:13 FTW at Cherry Blossom!!!

Drew Hunter 10th in 46:16. Good for him working longer distances.

Nice. Smashes the previous UK record of Emile Cairess, which as 45:57. It equals Ian Stewart's unratified record (which was a World Record at the time) from 1977.

It's also well under sub-60 HM pace. Hopefully he's coming into form.

I've just seen that he's registered as an American on the live tracking website. Anyone know if that's a mistake or has he switched allegiance?

On the live results, he’s showing as an American runner rather than British.

Please say he hasn’t switched allegiance :(

Don't worry. Hicks is 100% American, but he will continue to represent the Brits, because the distance competition on that side of the atlantic is bollocks.

Emile Cairess exempted! Best race of Hicks pro career?

This is not looking good for us Brits. He’s apparently set an ‘American Record’ and has the US flag.

He’s lost a fan in me if he’s switched allegiance at this point in his career.

He has dual citizenship but will run for the UK because he has zero competition there.

Lame of him to run as an American in these less competitive races but not at USA’s or the Olympic trials . This was the USATF 10 mile championship.

Unless he’s switched allegiance and will from now on only compete for USA.

Surely you can't just switch back and forth depending on the race? I don't follow him at all, but what's his background? Was he born & raised in the UK but one of his prent is American? I know he came to college here. Aren't there also issues with the UK having really strict/unfair selection rules for their national teams (e.g., not sending athletes to international competitions even if they qualified)? Perhaps that has something to do with this.

IMO NCAA XC is a better performance than 45:13. was the year Hicks won it easier competition? if not, I think that takes the cake. Shouldn't the yearly NCAA XC champ be able to run 45:low in the 10 mile?

Athletes can't do that, he has to choose one country to represent. And it normally requires a waiting period of one or three years. It might explain why Hicks hasn't been trying to make the British teams over the last year.

Tbh, fair enough if he has switched. the US is his home and he's every bit a product of the US development system. It's a shame for the UK, he'd have a good shot at making a distance team here. I don't like his chances in the US

my understanding is that his father is from Jacksonville. They lived in the UK because he was doing business over there. The family moved back to Jacksonville when Charles was 12.

He is very American. Though I'm sure he loves his UK roots as well.

Born and raised in the UK, moved to Florida at 12.

Regarding the UK selection, the controversy is that they require the athlete to have the UK B standard, which in the 10K is 27:20. Even with this in mind, it will still be much easier to qualify for team GB than the US team in all events, so this can’t be the reason for the switch if it is a permanent thing.

Completely agree that switching back and forth shouldn’t be a thing. Am I meant to check before each race whether he’s feeling British that day so I can decide whether to support him or not?

If he’s switched allegiance to the U.S. I have complete respect for that. His dad’s American and he’s lived here since he was 12? He has every right to call himself American if that’s what he wants, and the key distinction is that it’s harder to make U.S. distance teams than GB teams: it’s not taking the easy route, it seems like the opposite.

Perhaps, but Hicks crushed Kiptoo, Klecker and Maier (among others) in this race, who all also placed very high one or more times in NCAA cross.

Not that everyone made this event their goal for the season and arrived perfectly tapered, although tapering might be overrated (see Taylor Roe World Best).

Agree. Either decision he makes is fair. but he SHOULD have to make a decision. And running for GB is easily the logical choice from a competitive perspective.

Grant Fisher

Nico Young

Graham Blanks

etc.

etc.

though maybe pretty even if he's planning a move to the marathon?

In isolation, I would completely understand if he chose to run for the US based purely on his ties to the country.

My big issue with this is that he’s been saying in interviews for years “my dream since I’ve been a kid is to run at the Olympics for Team GB”.

If he feels such a lack of connection to the UK that he’d switch allegiance, he shouldn’t have led the British fans on for years. That’s what makes it sting.