Is Italian Long Jumper Andrew Howe the Biggest Retard Ever?

Sorry you and Millenium missed the sarcasm. Maybe the subtext wasn't clear enough. If he were a "true" Italian he wouldn't be celebrating in English in the first place.

In any case, the whole point was that people on here are ready to put Lagat, Abdi, Meb under a fvcking microscope for their citizenship, particularly when they win.

It seemed to go under the radar that an American-born athlete committed a Let's Run sin of deciding to compete for a nation other than that of his ancestry.

I wonder. Did Lowe's family escape developing-world conditions, emigrate to Italy, live the American-I mean Italian-dream and then have Andrew choose to represent their adopted country?

Howe its just retarded....his mom even more retarded...just genetics:)

You just lack the ability to put a fine point on your sarcasm. Leave comedy to those who can pull it off, m'kay?

Yeah that celebration was a little excessive. Was his mom doing some voodoo dance or some shit? Also, I have always thought wearing bling during championship races was a little over the top. Just my opinion though.

Give him a break, he's Italian. They're passionate.

And before anyone says he's actually American, he moved to Italy when he was 5, I say that qualifies him as an Italian.

He worked hard all year- with a goal in mind- thought he hit it- emotion took over. Good for him- very entertraining- his Mom should have a tv show, slo motion fo meh.

Orestes wrote:

Give him a break, he's Italian. They're passionate.

And before anyone says he's actually American, he moved to Italy when he was 5, I say that qualifies him as an Italian.

He almost certainly has dial citizenship, but he's smart to compete for Italy as opposed to the US. First, he'll almost always be assured of selection to the national team, whereas in the US he could easily have a bad day at the trials and be out of it.

Second, he already receives far, far more recognition and attention in Italy than he ever would in the US. The press was eating him up in Rome; you'd think that was the only guy in the whole competition. His silver medal in Osaka will go much further in Italy than it would in the US. Based on his unique situation, it's a smart move.

Similar to Félix Sánchez, but Howe a) actually lives there and b) can be easily economically supported in Italy, whereas Sánchez still needs his US base.

Yes big deal jump! And indeed he did go to shake hands with Saladino at the end. Congratulations to him.

I agree with the poster who said that behaving as though he had won might have really fueled up Saladino to make the winning leap. Good man Saladino. Howe, maybe was way too impulsive.

I also agree with the poster who said his silver medal is much more valuable in Italy. Baldini's gold in Athens is lasting four years, taking him to Beijing. Maybe like Kara Goucher's bronze will be more valuable in the US than it would have been in, say, Kenya. Irrespective of the origins issue.*

I don't like the poster calling him a "retard" but then again that's Letsrun lingo and you gotta try to interpret indigenous forms of communication. Still, language like life can evolve.

I am Italian (and also have dual citizenship) and didn't much care for the premature overexcitement either. I asked myself if he was screaming in English because he wanted to communicate in a wordly fashion, or because of his US background, or because that's the way sport is going: the way you cheer is as important as the performance itself. Sport more like showbusiness.

But the best lesson for this young, likeable athlete (I have met him), was probably losing the gold he was clutching so hard with his pumped muscles, after setting a national record, on the final jump of the whole competition. I don't think he will count his chickens before they hatch the next time...

*Re. ethnic origins, place of birth, nationality and citizenship issues: before attempting to post further I am thinking about it from an historical perspective, in relation to how many countries, populations, tribes. families have experienced civil war, genocide, fratricide, ethnic cleansing and the likes, not all that long ago...Recognizing that war, like say famine and poverty, are some of the root reasons why people left their places of birth or residence looking for a new "home"...

At least if I recall right from watching the WC he was gracious after the other guy took the gold. He clapped for him and even looked as if to smile at the guy and I think he almost made a move to congratulate him but the fellow moved on to do some pretty good celebratng himself.

D. Imus wrote:

His mom was awesome, with her nappy weave.

Retard D. Imus rather go fish in a sewer

Welcome to the New Millennium wrote:

You just lack the ability to put a fine point on your sarcasm. Leave comedy to those who can pull it off, m'kay?

Actually it was pretty easy to see. Sorry you were too dense to pick up on it.

Aaah, his American heritage explains it all, I take back all the things I originally thought of his behavior.

Leirbag wrote:

Go to USATF.com and check out Italian Andrew Howe's "celebration" before Irving Saladino (Panama) serves him up some sweet humble pie!!

Andrew Howe... sorry buddy. You lose... learn to get some composure on the big stage.

It was an awesome celebration. It was Webb-esque.

think much? wrote:

Actually it was pretty easy to see. Sorry you were too dense to pick up on it.

I never said I didn't pick up on it, sorry you are so obtuse as to assume that.

gdeb wrote:

He worked hard all year- with a goal in mind- thought he hit it- emotion took over. Good for him- very entertraining- his Mom should have a tv show, slo motion fo meh.

mamma is an athlete too - from the world masters site

In the Eptathlon a competition as known reserved to ladies , there was also René Felton , the mother-trainer of Andrew Howe , who in turn had been an athlete of the USA Athletics Team , thanks to the training on hurdles received by Tommy Smith , famous for the raised black fist at the 200 meters of Mexico ‘ 68. In the W45 group of age, the mother of the new long jump Italian record holder , has run the 80 m. hurdles in 13”29.

He's such a jerk that when Saladino surpassed him on the final jump, Howe smiled and applauded and shrugged his shoulders as if to say, 'yup, he beat me.' What a retard, indeed.

That's called eating humble pie...

Listen, if Saladino had not out-jumped Howe, we could have expected another 30-minutes of ridiculous Howe celebrations... completely unprofessional... now, Saladino, on the other hand, if he wanted to dip to Howe's level, and you could see him restraining himself at times, should have walked up to Howe's face and said, SUCK IT!

Leirbag wrote:

completely unprofessional...

I'm glad that we have high school children deciding what constitutes professionalism now.