Haven't others done this and become American citizens? Cheseret? Chirlee? Maiyo?
Haven't others done this and become American citizens? Cheseret? Chirlee? Maiyo?
The most interesting thing is that he's not even a US citizen. He might not be a big name but he was the 2nd in the 10k last year and has a full year of eligibility that he's giving up.
We changed the title of this thread so it's more accurate. The original title was "NCAA runner up quits school and joins Army."Katam didn't quit school. He just will be going to a different one from what I can tell."The Army is going to pay for me to finish my undergrad and to go to graduate school," said Katam.At some point tmw, I think I'm going to use this as QOD. His former coach on Katam.
Linh Nguyen said:
"He is talented, very talented, a very good runner, but he is genuinely the nicest kid I've ever met. He's a considerate, polite, thoughtful type of person. He bonded really well with a lot of his teammates and inspired people, too. He was so good, but he was so concerned with everybody else and how they ran and being encouraging for them."
A great story.
-LetsRun.com
PS. Here is our NCAA 10,000 recap from the spring which includes a video interview of him:
http://www.letsrun.com/news/2013/06/2013-ncaa-mens-10000-lawi-lalang-halfway-home-to-the-double/george oscar bluth wrote:
Haven't others done this and become American citizens? Cheseret? Chirlee? Maiyo?
_______
Joeseph Chirlee
I'm certain Paul Katam will do well with SOCCOM in Afghanistan.
Is he joining the Army or running for the Army elite team, ala Browne?
UNCG not UNGC.
After a long conversation with Flagpole, Katam decided he needed to go the real man route.
At least he gets a monthly paycheck in the Army; doubtful his tuition goes far in helping his family back home in Kenya.
This thread is weird?
"The Army is going to pay for me to finish my undergrad and to go to graduate school,"
Like when? After he gets out at the end of his enlistment?
Is not an alien coming to the US to enter the military a mercenary?
How long do you have to be a citizen for, prior to Olympic selection?
R2D3 wrote:
If he dies in battle he'll be automatically awarded US citizenship, which will make him available for the US in the 2020 games.
Brilliant.
R2D3 wrote:
If he dies in battle he'll be automatically awarded US citizenship, which will make him available for the US in the 2020 games.
He doesn't even have to die
http://www.army.mil/article/55590/Not a bad move. Let's see, they'll push his citizenship paperwork faster, so he'll become a US citizen within 9 months. He'll be admitted to their WCAP program for elite athletes. He'll get paid approximately $3,995/month(Base Pay/BAS/BAH). He'll get the GI Bill and Federal Tuition Assistance for undergrad and grad school. With the draw down, and the Army following the ARFORGEN Model, he'll deploy once every rive years depending on unit of assignment. Not a bad decision.
He is also going to join some other great runners that the Army has...look at the 2013 USATF XC Team results.
Great move signing up for the amazing high technology special forces jobs in Afghanistan. Go get em.
It's UNCG a.k.a. UNC Greensboro, not UNGC...
Edward Limo from UCA just did the same thing and gave up his last semester. will be a Swahili translator
Jeff Wigand wrote:
R2D3 wrote:If he dies in battle he'll be automatically awarded US citizenship, which will make him available for the US in the 2020 games.
He doesn't even have to die
http://www.army.mil/article/55590/
That's good news.