No offense, but Erassa is clearly too old to be running at USATF JRs. He graduated from high school not this year, not the year before, but 2 years ago. Kind of a joke that he won the 5000 there this evening and took a spot from Ryan Pickering to Barcelona and the World JR Track Championships.
someone in the know wrote:
No offense, but Erassa is clearly too old to be running at USATF JRs. He graduated from high school not this year, not the year before, but 2 years ago. Kind of a joke that he won the 5000 there this evening and took a spot from Ryan Pickering to Barcelona and the World JR Track Championships.
If this si true, then I agree it is totally outrageous. Are there no birth certificates required to establish age qualifications at US Nationals? I know there is a citizenship requirement, so Erassa has to have met that. But, how could he fake his age? Is he a Kenyan import, with no verifiable age? This requires a full investigation, now, so if he is NOT qualified, his IAAF slot can be properly awarded to Pickering. Who wants to run with this investigation? Should it be USATF? Or NCAA? Thoughts?
someone in the know wrote:
No offense, but Erassa is clearly too old to be running at USATF JRs. He graduated from high school not this year, not the year before, but 2 years ago. Kind of a joke that he won the 5000 there this evening and took a spot from Ryan Pickering to Barcelona and the World JR Track Championships.
If this is true, then I agree it is totally outrageous. Are there no birth certificates required to establish age qualifications at US Nationals? I know there is a citizenship requirement, so Erassa has to have met that. But, how could he fake his age? Is he a Kenyan import, with no verifiable age? This requires a full investigation, now, so if he is NOT qualified, his IAAF slot can be properly awarded to Pickering. Who wants to run with this investigation? Should it be USATF? Or NCAA? Thoughts?
From Ethiopia, not Kenya, and no one is going to bother to do an investigation, most likely. The unfortunate fact is that there is some pretty damning evidence that he is indeed older than his claimed age. Not going to post what I have heard as it is just heresay, but he really should not have been in that race. I have nothing against him racing for OK State or here in the States, but taking a spot to a World event from someone is a bit messed up, I think.
According to his claimed age, he is 16 in this video:
Who is Kyle King? How fast did he run in HS. He looked really good in that race tonight
He's had a pretty damn good freshman year. 13:55 PR, 4th at ACC 5k.
I think he ran 9:06 ish for 3200 in high school.
someone in the know wrote:
From Ethiopia, not Kenya, and no one is going to bother to do an investigation, most likely. The unfortunate fact is that there is some pretty damning evidence that he is indeed older than his claimed age. Not going to post what I have heard as it is just heresay, but he really should not have been in that race. I have nothing against him racing for OK State or here in the States, but taking a spot to a World event from someone is a bit messed up, I think.
According to his claimed age, he is 16 in this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1L51Jj-lM8&feature=relmfu
Then he should be asked by USATF to verify his age or step down from representing Team USA in IAAF Junior Worlds. No?
Who is responsible at USATF? Can USATF be relied upon to be reliable in these matters?
It's not like he just got to pick an age out of a hat when he came to the US. He had to have his age verified by both the US and Ethiopian government, . Whether he is actually 18 or not there is no way to prove it because his birth certificate says he is 18, I've seen it. What was your plan for checking his age, cutting him in half and counting the rings?
yepp wrote:
What was your plan for checking his age, cutting him in half and counting the rings?
Even letsrun has its moments of greatness.
yepp wrote:
It's not like he just got to pick an age out of a hat when he came to the US. He had to have his age verified by both the US and Ethiopian government, . Whether he is actually 18 or not there is no way to prove it because his birth certificate says he is 18, I've seen it. What was your plan for checking his age, cutting him in half and counting the rings?
Don't laugh. In youth sports in Africa, age cheating is so rampant that athletic officials have resorted to using wrist MRIs to verify age. In a nutshell, these MRIs determine the maturity of the athlete's bone plate development and match it to known growth plate benchmarks to determine likely age. These tests are accurate enough to get the age within six months of actual chronological age.
These tests should be mandatory for all junior championships in the US, IMHO.
Serious responses only, please.
You couldn't even tell that the name Kirubel Erassa is clearly Ethiopian and not Kenyan at all. Fail.
someone in the know wrote:
No offense, but Erassa is clearly too old to be running at USATF JRs. He graduated from high school not this year, not the year before, but 2 years ago. Kind of a joke that he won the 5000 there this evening and took a spot from Ryan Pickering to Barcelona and the World JR Track Championships.
It is a moot point: none of them are going to Barcelona as none ran faster than the IAAF Junior World standard for the 5K. Disappointing for Team USA.
Real American Americans wrote:
It is a moot point: none of them are going to Barcelona as none ran faster than the IAAF Junior World standard for the 5K.
Wrong. Erassa and King both have met the standard.
I call BS. My growth plates were closed when i was in 8th grade at age 14. It may work in general but not everyone fits.
Real American Americans wrote:
yepp wrote:It's not like he just got to pick an age out of a hat when he came to the US. He had to have his age verified by both the US and Ethiopian government, . Whether he is actually 18 or not there is no way to prove it because his birth certificate says he is 18, I've seen it. What was your plan for checking his age, cutting him in half and counting the rings?
Don't laugh. In youth sports in Africa, age cheating is so rampant that athletic officials have resorted to using wrist MRIs to verify age. In a nutshell, these MRIs determine the maturity of the athlete's bone plate development and match it to known growth plate benchmarks to determine likely age. These tests are accurate enough to get the age within six months of actual chronological age.
These tests should be mandatory for all junior championships in the US, IMHO.
Serious responses only, please.
So you are saying that he was 16 when he graduated high school? Perhaps he hit puberty at 10 years old, but I find it hard to believe he was born in 1993.
WTF. Tell me, WHO CARES ABOUT YOUTH ANYTHING?!?! Rampant Age cheating? If this was the only kind of cheating in our sport, we would be LUCKY. How many people in the USA care about Track? Out of those people, how many care about Youth Championships/Records? Some people just live to get bent out of shape.
Now, can we get back to discussing the clear Doping by the AlSal camp?!?!
LOL, just googled the guy, never have I seen someone who is clearly way older than they say they claim . . . although what I said about Youth stuff stands.
someone in the know wrote:
According to his claimed age, he is 16 in this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1L51Jj-lM8&feature=relmfu
He looks 25 years old in the video - AGE CHEAT
Way too black to be an Ethiopian - NATIONALITY CHEAT
So pretty easy to figure this out... He was born in June 1993 and here is what USATF requires:
Athletes must be at least 14 years old on the day of competition but not turn 20 years old during 2012. All entries must be accompanied by a copy of a legal document (passport or birth certificate) in order to verify date of birth and citizenship. If you have a valid passport at the time of entry, please use a copy of the information page of your passport as verification of citizenship and birth date. These copies will not be returned. You must FAX the copy of your passport or birth certificate, with your membership number, event, and championships name ("USA Junior Outdoor Track & Field Championships") written in it to USATF National Office at 317-261-0514 no later than June 1st, 2012.
Pretty cut and dry. He won't be 20 in the calendar year of 2012 since he just turned 19. Look up the rules and what it takes to get into these meets before you go out and slander someones name and reputation.
[quote]wha huh? wrote: I call BS. My growth plates were closed when i was in 8th grade at age 14. It may work in general but not everyone fits. [quote][
How the heck do you know when your growth plates fused? There is no way to evaluate this without MRI analysis by a qualified radiologist.
You may think they were fused, but you have no way to prove it.
MRIs of the wrist growth plates has been proven to be accurate in determining age within plus or minus 6 months at the 99% level of significance. For those of you who haven't taken advanced stat, that is a high level of certainty.