Khannouchi and latest letsrun.com poll

So, according to your logic, Frank Shorter "stole" a position on our Olympic team (and two medals) because he wasn't born in the USA. Your logic stinks. The USA is a country of immigrants... my grandparents were not born here and I consider them fully Americans. In fact, immigrants who choose our country are full Americans and should be embraced as such.

DougC

He will "steal" a spot? Last I checked it the Olympic trials was a head-to-head race where the winner goes to the games. That's not stealing in my book, it's earning a spot. Besides, if 2000 were any indication, he won't be stealing a spot from anybody.

So if Khalid is not American, what's that make Meb? He wasn't born here, either.

In my opinion, he is as American as anyone else. I don't think he came here to wash dishes and train in Brooklyn in the middle of the night so he could set national records and steal places on the Olympic team from other guys. He came for an opportunity to run and hopefully train at a high level. He is proud to represent his country and I think we should respect that.

"Kipketer really looks like he is from Denmark..."

Not sure what you're trying to say here -- sarcasm is difficult to parlay over the Internet at the best of times, but I thought I'd share something with you about Kipketer.

He has lived and studied in Denmark for about 12 or 13 years now, representing them with distinction and class. He speaks Danish, albeit with a broad African lilt, and is by most accounts a well-adjusted citizen of a country not particularly keen on immigration.

He had to wait seven long years to be naturalised as a Dane - and did so without complaint, nor request to have his case expedited. In fact, it was suggested by some in the Danish media in the run-up to the Atlanta Olympics that he marry his long-time girlfriend, and thus obtain immediate citizenship and the right to represent Denmark at the Games.

Despite all the temptation -- and the full knowledge that he was the best 800m man in the world at the time - he refused to marry his way into the country, feeling that his girlfriend was too young, and not ready for marriage at the time. How many of us would refuse to take such an easy route?

I agree there are athletes guilty of 'shopping' for countries to represent, and there are countries guilty of encouraging that process (Belgium, France, et al) but Kipketer isn't one of them.

Martin

a runner:

Are you a "real" American? A Native American? I doubt it. It's idiots like yourself that give other white trash a bad name. Educate yourself and know what you are talking about so your ignorance doesn't show so easy. Go find out how many Americans have the "A" standard. Next time, before you post, use the name "a loser" so you don't give runners a bad name. That way we'll know to ignore you.

Answer - Are you kidding me with this? We're on this topic again? That "a runner" guy is a troll. I swear anyone who says anything else on this topic is a dumbass. None of you have anything to say that we haven't heard a million times. Seriously, "Move On".

Answer man,

enough with the "move on" YOU are a TOOL. Don't reply to this b/c I don't care. Just go away.

Answer - So then gmoney, you want to be involved in the same discussions over and over I guess. You'd like to read and post messages about who would win a 2 mile race between Webb and Ritz. You want to be involved in a discussion about how KK is as real an American as anyone else who is, even though that gets tossed around every other week. You want to read abou what to do with a Cho-Pat strap for the billionth time. You want to read how someone things that Sara Bei is not hot while someone else thinks she is a cutie.

It takes someone like me to point out to people who might not know that a topic has been discussed to death. No chance of me moving on because if I did the IQ of this message board would drop so fast there would be a sonic boom. "Move On".

Martin wrote:

"Kipketer really looks like he is from Denmark..."

Not sure what you're trying to say here

What he is trying to say it that he is a racist.

FUCK THE OLYMPICS

IOC : International Organized Corruption

Just because the Olympic website is a dot-org, do you really think that the IOC is a non-profit, philanthropic organization? Samaranch has to be worth at least US$200million, all of it neatly tucked away in offshore accounts.

I dont think that the Olympics has helped the world at all, just made it more divisive, hostile and politicized.

Look at the Sydney Men's Olympic Marathon as a case-in-point. Because of all the silly rules and 3-man restrictions in place, the top performers in the marathon from the previous two years, Khannouchi, DaCosta, Moses Tanui, Gert Thys, etc, were not there. The race would have been a lot different (fairer) if they truly had a HUMAN race in which the only qualification was a drug-free sub-2;13 or so.

This is why I still think that the best races are races like Chicago, NYC, Fukuoka, etc.

Answer man, if you are tired of reading the same old crap over and over again then do us all a favor and don't read it and stop whining about it. Just because you have heard it a million times doesn't mean everyone else should cater to your fragile impatience. "Move out"

Kannouci (sorry spelling) should have come to Canada. Here he would have been treated with more respect; at least from the local running community, and recieved the recognition he deserved.

DougC wrote:

So, according to your logic, Frank Shorter "stole" a position on our Olympic team (and two medals) because he wasn't born in the USA. Your logic stinks. The USA is a country of immigrants... my grandparents were not born here and I consider them fully Americans. In fact, immigrants who choose our country are full Americans and should be embraced as such.

DougC

Shorter is a terrible example, he was born abroad to American parents, making him American. I am talking about naturalized citizens for the sake of athletics. Maybe my Kipketer example was bad, but not as bad as you Shorter example. Any immigrant that chooses are country should be embraced as a full American, you are nuts. There are 9 guys that flew a plane into the WTC that "immigrated" to our country on student visas, they should be embraced? Your grandparents in my book are American, if they were naturalized. You see they didn't do it for athletics, they did it for a better life for your parents and you. Ass for the posts below, that refer to me as a racist, you couldn't be further from the truth. Having a discussion about naturalized athletes and saying you don't agree with it hardly makes one a racist.

So, now it's OK to be naturalized into the US as long as it's not related to sports?? If someone comes here to work as an engineer and make more money, that's OK in your eyes, but working as a dishwasher in Brooklyn and running on your free time to build a better life, is not OK?

Another thing, the suicide hijackers had no interest in going through the naturalization process (Green Card to US Citizenship). That takes years... just ask KK. The terrorists certainly did NOT choose the US as their home country, they despise us.

Mr. Answer Man:

If you are not already aware of it, you might try posting on the IAAF's message boards. Overall the discussions are much more mature and less concerned with Webb and Ritz, etc.

Enjoy,

Monty

If you think that way you may already know that Alberto Salazar wasn't born in this country, Frank Shorter wasn't either, how about Sydney Maree, nobody ever mentions him in these kind of threads.

Those three runners mean alot to America's community, they took the old red, white and blue to the top even though they "weren't real Americans." (i hope you realize i'm being sarcastic)