Bernard Lagat wins and Brits play "Born in USA" on speakers - Cram corrects them

Um... Lagat wasn't born here guys.

Galen Rupp Number on Fan wrote:

About time people woke up and realized the truth. Ain't nothing but a Kenyan dopper.

Dopping is terrible.

I would like to hear how Cram said it. Maybe he was just making a little quip.

Man, people read so much into these things.

Springsteen didn't actually go off to a foreign land to kill yellow men.

not exactly patriotic

Born down in a dead man's town

The first kick I took was when I hit the ground

You end up like a dog that's been beat too much

Till you spend half your life just covering up

Born in the U.S.A.

I was born in the U.S.A.

I was born in the U.S.A.

Born in the U.S.A.

Got in a little hometown jam so they put a rifle in my hand

Sent me off to a foreign land to go and kill the yellow man

Born in the U.S.A.

I was born in the U.S.A.

I was born in the U.S.A.

I was born in the U.S.A.

Born in the U.S.A.

Come back home to the refinery

Hiring man says "son if it was up to me"

Went down to see my V.A. man

He said "son don't you understand now"

Had a brother at Khe Sahn fighting off the Viet Cong

They're still there he's all gone

He had a woman he loved in Saigon

I got a picture of him in her arms now

Down in the shadow of penitentiary

Out by the gas fires of the refinery

I'm ten years burning down the road

Nowhere to run ain't got nowhere to go

Born in the U.S.A.

I was born in the U.S.A.

Born in the U.S.A.

I'm a long gone daddy in the U.S.A.

Born in the U.S.A.

Born in the U.S.A.

Born in the U.S.A.

I'm a cool rocking daddy in the U.S.A.

A more appropriate song would have been Lee Greenwood's "God Bless The USA".

douglas burke wrote:

maybe they should have played, I'm a yankee doodle dandee.

Elmer Bernstein would suggest the Theme From Carpetbaggers perhaps?

I would say relatively more of the UKs sports stars are born outside of the Uk compared to the USA. The Uk media have a habit of pointing this out when it relates to another country but are not so honest about their own athletes.

Chris Froome is an exception but they also refer to him as Kenyan although he was pretty much raised in South Africa born in Kenya but spent most his early cycling years and his entire school career in South Africa.

Farah born in Somalia

Half the English Cricket team are South African

Their Rugby team has inluded New Zealanders, Australians, South Africans and Indians

Have often seen Cram referring to Alistair Cragg as the South African born Irish man which is true but he is not so quick to do the same with Farah

A few other Uk athletes are obviously American when you hear their interviews but are never referred to as Americans. Can't remember the names but a lady hurdler and a male 400m runner.

Lots of international athletes developed in US collegiate system but are never referred to as American.

If you really want to look at athletes in terms of which country they should represent it should be done on the basis of which system developed them and where they have spent most of their time.

Froome would be English / South African / Kenyan

Lagat would be American / Kenyan

Cragg would be American / South African / Irish

Farah would be English / Somalian

It was Andrew Cotter, not Steve Cram, and it was a throwaway comment relating to the fact Lagat was not born in the USA. There was no inference that Lagat was not American or that his place of birth should be a problem.

Neutral observer wrote:

I would say relatively more of the UKs sports stars are born outside of the Uk compared to the USA. The Uk media have a habit of pointing this out when it relates to another country but are not so honest about their own athletes.

Rubbish, you never hear the end of it. You don't see many reports about Kevin Pietersen that don't refer to him as 'The South African born batsman' or words to that effect.

Screw that German

Just to clear up any doubt of what Cram thinks of Lagat's change of citizenship (even though it seems the benign comment wasn't even made by him) you can hear him give his opinion at 3:52 into this clip (but watch the whole thing because it's a great run):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2rHmSKqs2w

WiT wrote:

douglas burke wrote:

maybe they should have played, I'm a yankee doodle dandee.

Elmer Bernstein would suggest the Theme From Carpetbaggers perhaps?

The Carpetbaggers were from a different tribe.

Ask the folks down South about that

gfhfkgkfh wrote:

Born in the USA is a slam against the American gov't and the Vietnam War....not exactly a patriotic tune anyway.

That fact slipped by GOP hero Ronald Reagan

'Froome would be English / South African / Kenyan

Lagat would be American / Kenyan

Cragg would be American / South African / Irish

Farah would be English / Somalian'

You are really European not American and 90% + of your gold medallists are really African

So you happen to born in America so what

when is lagat gonna quit doping and let some young guy take over?

Jeff Wigand wrote:

He didn't make a criticism of Lagat. He just pointed out the irony that the song wasn't actually applicable to Lagat. Had they not put on the song, Cram would have never said anything about it (just as he hadn't about Farah).

No, if they hadn't used that song, Cram would have said something else with an anti-US orientation. That's just the kind of person he is. By comparison, Bernard in person is one of the nicest people you will ever meet.

Just to correct a post from earlier, Mo was not born a UK citizen. He was born a Somali citizen and that was all. What he was born with, and I was born into a similar situation, was the right to apply to become a UK citizen in the future. By virtue of his father. With a few exceptions, citizenship is almost always granted, but one still needs to apply first.

Jeff Wigand wrote:

Just to clear up any doubt of what Cram thinks of Lagat's change of citizenship (even though it seems the benign comment wasn't even made by him) you can hear him give his opinion at 3:52 into this clip (but watch the whole thing because it's a great run):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2rHmSKqs2w

Cram gets on well with Lagat. I saw him e join Lagat and his agent for breakfast on the day of the meet.

At 3:52 in this clip he makes it clear that he wasn't negative about him becoming US citizen.