16 year old run World Youth Best 1:44.08 800ms to grab Gold, 2 others under 1:45

Well guess what silly troll....Leonard has the Youth Gold medal and Youth Best! So I guess it doesn't matter what the posters here at Letsrun think does it LOL?

okay, but are u a black Kenyan? blacks from different parts of the world look quite different. to the average kenyan, the guy probably looks like the other 16 year olds from the poor areas.

Rec Runner x wrote:

i'm black so i can sort of tell a black person's age and this guy looks at least 21

Oh...and Geb and Bekele are not really humans...they're from outer space. My evidence: they run wayyy too much faster than Americans and europeans of the same age.

If this dude grows up to be a 1.38 runner, then I'd say he's legit. Because to run 1.44-flat as a 16yo should make you the best 800 runner the world has ever seen, by a fair margin.

But the odds are he'll max out at 1.43 or 1.42 because he's lying about his age and is already approaching his peak.

It's cheating, pure and simple. Although if I was poor, and running gave me a chance to lead a better life, I suspect my morals and ethics would be checked at the door as well.

Don't we have tests for this kind of thing, or can any 21yo claim to be 16 and get away with it? Hello IAAF? Anyone home?

He's from the same village as David Rudisha, it says here:

http://01sport.net/news/kosencha-blazes-144-08-world-youth-record-in-800m/

Afaik that's in the Trans Mara district, where this kind of thing goes on.

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z263/ngari_2007/untitled-2.jpg

They're not shooting birds or targets btw, they're shooting people. That'll age you if it doesn't kill you.

But yeah, he does look older than 17.

It really doesn't matter how old they are, (other than its just plain cheating) either way they are running freaking fast. 1:44.08 is fast regardless of who runs it, yet alone someone who can 'fake' being 16. They also have a ridiculous amount of depth.

some people peak physically at an early age, just as some people peak in intelligence at an early age.

its totally possible that he's ran so many miles that he's nearing his peak already.

im sure that if a 16 year old american was running about 100 miles a week since their pre-teen years...they'd be peaking too.

maybe he's just not a smart trainer, is impatient, and wants to get all the glory now. some people dont follow nor desire to follow the "wait until i turn 19, then run 100 mile weeks" philosophy.

I don't get why you'd even bother to cheat if you're a 1:44 guy. That kind of time will win a lot of major meets

...and...being dirt poor from Kenya, you probably would be more impatient and rush to get the fast times at an early age.

LL Cool J wrote:

I don't get why you'd even bother to cheat if you're a 1:44 guy. That kind of time will win a lot of major meets

That's what makes in embarrassing.

Koech was supposed to be 17 when he ran 12:53.

He wasn't 17.

It's one thing dominating a sport, but when you dominate the age groups too because you're cheating it makes the whole thing a joke.

However old he is, we won't even be able to remember his name in two yrs. The way they train does not serve well for longevity, but there are rare cases such as lagat and asbel kip.

Let Me Make it Simple for Some of You:

Tell me if this is philosophically sound.

Some slower runners peak...in high school, because they've already maxed out their talent. Therefore, it is entirely possible for a faster runner to do the same.

Just throwing this out there but I know for a fact that there are two Kenyan males in NCAA Div I that are 25 and 28, as that is what they told me. I don't know if it against the rules but thankfully, their coach does a poor job and they aren't high level runners.

I can understand that some my age faster than others due to outside circumstances but I am not buy this world junior performance.

Talking to the Moon wrote:

It really doesn't matter how old they are

When competing in an event which is based on age, I'd think it relatively important.

How freakin' stupid are you people?

No one has said anything denigrating about their races so don't throw the race card into this. I agree that accusing someone of something without proves is unclassy so i am not claiming anything here all i am doing is pointing the fact that age cheating is real especially in Kenyan athletics.

Hfdcr wrote:

I don't think that I will see any north American juniors run 1.44.08 in my lifetime (forget youth).

well the USA junior record is 1:44.3, so are juniors are very close to the youth world record.

Turd Furg wrote:

Just throwing this out there but I know for a fact that there are two Kenyan males in NCAA Div I that are 25 and 28, as that is what they told me. I don't know if it against the rules but thankfully, their coach does a poor job and they aren't high level runners.

I can understand that some my age faster than others due to outside circumstances but I am not buy this world junior performance.

Why are you thankful? The NCAA is for amateurs, not youth. There's no age limitation. Chelanga's 26 btw

Dr. Dent wrote:

Anyone who thinks that Robby Andrews could medal someday in the Olympics should be thinking...

...can Robby Andrews even medal in the World Youth Championships?

well andrews did get a bronze at world juniors last year with another american getting silver.

also andrews 800 personal best would have gotten him bronze today.

Leonard could very well be a 16 yrs old or he could be a age cheat; however, to say that he is an age cheat just because Kenyans or Africans before him has done so is stupid. IAAF isn't the YMCA I'm sure they work on catching such cheats and improving techniques to identify false documents and the IAAF have no problem in denying athlete(s) participation in age appropiate competitions if proved guilty!