Or is this a party foul? He has only raced competitively for a few years and just won the 3k and 5k!!! Or does it not count if the runner is fron Kenya? If we all agree that C. Derrick is a badass, doesn't that make Lalang an even bigger badass? Oh well... At least he will have one thread.
Yes, it's expected if he is from Kenya. It's not unusual. We don't know his age. He'll be burnt out in 3 years...whatever!
Yes, we won't see him around for too long. Just like his flash in the pan training partner... B. Lagat... He'll burn out just as quickly...
Oh, wait...
He was expected to be unbeatable. And he won as expected.
Oh yes, but I forgot we're all racist.
Most racist website in the most racist country in the most racist era in the history of the world.
we are all sooooooo racist wrote:
Oh yes, but I forgot we're all racist.
Most racist website in the most racist country in the most racist era in the history of the world.
True/False/False.
we are all sooooooo racist wrote:
He was expected to be unbeatable. And he won as expected.
Oh yes, but I forgot we're all racist.
Most racist website in the most racist country in the most racist era in the history of the world.
A quick note on nomenclature, racism is the belief of genetic superiority of one race over another. So if we discount the accomplishments of black athletes because they are expected to outperform whites, it's actually racism against white people, because they're the "genetically inferior" ones at that particular endeavor.
I am a huge fan of both Chris and Lawi. Lawi is one of the most talented runners out there and he will be great in a few years. He also carries himself well and always appreciates the sport and all of his competitors. Chris needs Lawi and Lawi needs Chris for them to be able to push themselves so they can make their Olympic teams. Lawi is a great guy and is an even bigger fan of Chris than letsrun. All of this Lawi hate is just people on the outside looking in.
This website has racism written all over.... and to whoever did the recap on the women's 1500 seriously!!! How can you say Martinez has a long ways and is out class?!?!? Is it the same as saying Matt has way to go and its out class?!?! No!! he just gave it all and today there were people racing better than him thats all. If thats your opinion is fine but there are a lot of people reading you crap in this website and we don't agree. Please stick with the facts like she needs to get her pr down and stuff like that.
I'm not sure it's racism in all cases. Some comments here are of course bigoted, but that's to be expected with the anonymity of the message boards and people's pent up anger. But in many cases, I think, it is related to the fact that when sports are very predictable (one athlete is clearly superior than the others - i.e. Lagat vs. Rupp or Lawi vs. other collegians), that the sport becomes boring. We all (most of us) root for the underdog, regardless of race, because that is part of our culture. And while you have to respect the toughness of Kenyan distance runners and what they've had to overcome in their lives (compared to most Americans), when one runner is so much more talented and wins all the time, it becomes boring. That might be why Lawi does not get as much praise, even though maybe he should.
And in other sports, like for instance golf (if you can call it a sport, which I think you can), even when Tiger was so dominant, it was still very entertaining because he would do amazing things, make shots people had never seen before, shoot phenomenally low scores, but in running, it's just a guy running faster than the other guy to the finish line. So if the same guys win over and over, it's boring, and an upset is far more interesting. It's why people got bored when the Yankees kept winning, for example.
Racism is attributing someone's moral worth or mental aptitude to their race. Recognizing physical differences between races is not racism.
Correct. You expect him to win because he's Kenyan. We expect Derrick to lose because he's a white guy racing against a Kenyan. He almost didn't lose, so he exceeded expectations. Lalang just did what everyone expected him to do.
Pretty simple.