trackcoach wrote:
This is not a valid arguement becasue we actually know what age Sydney is.
How do you know that?
trackcoach wrote:
This is not a valid arguement becasue we actually know what age Sydney is.
How do you know that?
LOL. Straw man. LOL.
Just wait until the MRI test used in soccer comes to track. LOL.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_fraud_in_association_footballYou and your ilk will claim the test is "racist". LOL
It will be the end of things like "16 year old" Yomif Kejelcha at the World Youth Champs -
http://www.zimbio.com/photos/Yomif+Kejelcha/IAAF+World+Youth+Championships+Day+2/3dzV8__hDP4.
The Africans have tons of talent. They don't need to be azzzhole cheats stealing medals from kids and trying to intimidate future competition. Eff them and eff you, you flit.
Wow, dude, chill out. I simply asked a question about the guys IAAF lists as having broken 13 for 5k while being junior runners. Almost certainly some of these guys are older than listed, but age cheating doesn't happen to be something I see as a major issue, and I haven't formed a strong opinion about which ones and why.
Since you and some other folks on this board do see age cheating as a major issue, I'm curious to know which guys on that list you view as age cheats and what evidence has led you to that view.
p.s. I had never heard of Yomif Kejelcha before today, but I agree that his progression and appearance raise questions about whether 1 August 1997 is an accurate DOB.
As a start, I think Komen has stated that he was probably at least 3 years older than his documented age. When Limo graduated from grade school he was at least 19, he spent a couple of years at Kenya's Polytechnic University, he was probably 22-23 when he finished college and then he came on the scene as supposedly an 18 years old. Like Komen, Limo was also probably about 3-4 years too old when he competed as a junior. In 2002 Choge won Kenya's grade school 10K championship, in 2003 competed in world jr cross and then world 'youth' track, in 2004 he competed again in world jr cross and world jr track. The following year, in 2005, he was still competing as junior when he won world jr cross and set the world jr record for the 3K at 7:28. That's right, he ran 7:28 at supposely age 19. Choge did come through grade school competiton, which is one way to approximate his age and I suspect he was only about 2 years overage when he competed as a youth and junior. - Just to highlight a few. All of these athletes were incredible even if they were seniors competing as juniors, but they all ran some incredible times at a young age and quickly leveled out or went backwards at what should have been the prime of their careers.
Thanks for the specific info. Flip side of the coin: are there particular athletes you coach / know / root for who have been especially harmed by competing with over-aged East African juniors?
Not counting old African athletes competing in the NCAA, which is not against the rules. I've have had 3 athletes that I personally coached who were affected by age cheating and one of those was an overage Cuban athlete who I know for a fact was 2 years older than the age submitted to Pan Am jrs. The other 2 were Kenyans who simply looked way-way too old to be 18 and they had used a different DOBs at another competition. Sometimes Africans will get the year correct, but will forget what day and month they used the last time. And, I had quite a few more athletes and coaches who I know that were affected by age cheating. Basically, any American who competes in any global age restricted competition is affected by it. For the record, Kenyans in most cases don't need to age cheat to beat Americans, it is the Ethiopians who they have a bigger rivalry with than most people know. The Kenyan grade school produces the equivalent of 1-2 sub-4 milers each year...they can beat us without cheating, you just probably won't see any 3:30 1500s or 12:50 5000s. In 2001 when Ritz finished 3rd at world jr cross, in my mind that’s his greatest career accomplishment. Even in 2009 when German Fernandez took 11th at world jr cross, that was a significant accomplishment because I don't think a single one of those athletes who finished ahead of him was a true junior.
Ban the age cheating countries from world juniors. We don't need these cheaters around.
I think you are missing the point. The incentive for saying that you are younger than they really are is that a performance obviously looks a lot better when you do it at 17 vs. 21. So it's not the performance that really stands out but the potential. That's why the Dominican (and other) baseball players do it. Now you can argue that it's worse in baseball because teams pay a lot more money to their players than any track athlete would ever get but the reasoning for age cheating is the same.
Oh, I didn't know there were Kenyans and Ethiopians playing soccer at the FIFA level in reference to your point saying that they found age cheating problems from the same countries and I know you are referring mostly to kenya and Ethiopia. I am not arguing that there is no age cheating but I always wonder why we cry about it so much instead of training our kids. If we can have phenoms like Mary Cain and Alexa Effraimson who are performing even better than east Africans in their true 16s - 17s or McLaughlin at truly 14, that means we may have more that can be trained. As far as these juniors not running the high school meets, it's because in there, school is seriously about school and not running. The kids running for schools don't get enough time to train especially that most high schools are boarding schools.
And with most of juniors not having to improve more or 5000m record not in the 11:50 levels like you would think it would if the juniors are running that fast, maybe it's because there is what we tend to call "human limits" just like imagination that sub-2 hours marathon may not happen.
So how do you propose to stop age cheating? Simply disallowing these athletes from these suspected countries is not acceptable.
Look folks...this is sport. It isn't a matter of life or death. Saying someone is cheating because how old they loom is flat out STUPID! Hasay could be a 9th grader for Christ's sake. Get over it. Its only a sport/game.
Just about all of the African countries participate in the age restricted FIFA tournaments and are more successful than at the senior level. They are less successful these days because FIFA has taken a hard stance againts age cheating.
To answer your questions:
We don't cry a lot about age cheating, I am one of few people that bring up the topic somewhat frequently.
You are correct, going to school does limit your ability to train, but is'nt that what it means to be youth or junior athlete?
You are correct, if you are running fast as a junior, your improvement curve is less, but when you run a 1:45 800m at age 16, improving by 3 seconds over the next 5 years should be a given.
Our kids are already training hard, but you can't expect a 17 year old school kid to be at the same level as 22 year old adult, unless you are a once in decade prodigy like Mary or Sidney.
These are the top 3 800m finishers from the 2011 World Youths:
1:44.08
1:44.68
1:44.98
World Youth is is suppose to be 16 and 17 year olds; if you think these athletes were high school sophomores and juniors, I have some beach front propery in Utah to sell you.
You used the word "probably" in each of the first three sentences. How about some "definites"?
Can Africans produce "a prodigy" or prodigies just like Sydney and Cain? Or are we the only ones here in Murica allowed to have them but it raises questions when they come from these other poor countries. I haven't heard a lot of complaints about European kids both in NCAA or anywhere else even when they perform as great. How frequent should a prodigy be expected and how many per country? What are the parameters in excluding some and pointing a finger at others? EXCUSES.
About Faith Kipyegon, 1994 is not her real year of Birth.
But the reality is the opposite of what you think : infact, she had born in... 1996, and had to add two years to her age because with the real age was too Young for competing in junior championships...
Don't forget there are limit of age in the other direction, too, so, if you are too Young, you can't compete with juniores.
This situation is quite common in Kenya about Young girls. In many cases we see runners 15 years old able to qualify for WCC in the junior team. They are still without any document, and, for going in the team, go to add one or two years to their age, in order to compete (they do this individually, AK is not involved).
Hingle McCringleberry wrote:
You used the word "probably" in each of the first three sentences. How about some "definites"?
And how about those "definites" backed up by "evidence".
He also used "I think", "supposedly", "approximate","I suspect".
And as for "they all ran some incredible times at a young age and quickly leveled out or went backwards at what should have been the prime of their careers.", you've got to be kidding, evidence? "ALL" of them didn't level out or go backwards, some did, some didn't, they're junior athletes FFS, it happens to some junior athletes (for a variety of reasons), ask any decent coach.
Renato Canova wrote:
About Faith Kipyegon, 1994 is not her real year of Birth.
But the reality is the opposite of what you think : infact, she had born in... 1996, and had to add two years to her age because with the real age was too Young for competing in junior championships...
Don't forget there are limit of age in the other direction, too, so, if you are too Young, you can't compete with juniores.
This situation is quite common in Kenya about Young girls. In many cases we see runners 15 years old able to qualify for WCC in the junior team. They are still without any document, and, for going in the team, go to add one or two years to their age, in order to compete (they do this individually, AK is not involved).
This type of behavior is why I don't trust the age of african athletes.
They can just make up whatever is convenient.
Renato Canova wrote:
About Faith Kipyegon, 1994 is not her real year of Birth.
But the reality is the opposite of what you think : infact, she had born in... 1996, and had to add two years to her age because with the real age was too Young for competing in junior championships...
Don't forget there are limit of age in the other direction, too, so, if you are too Young, you can't compete with juniores.
This situation is quite common in Kenya about Young girls. In many cases we see runners 15 years old able to qualify for WCC in the junior team. They are still without any document, and, for going in the team, go to add one or two years to their age, in order to compete (they do this individually, AK is not involved).
I am not too surprised, when I first saw her she looked quite young and had a child like demenor. She is with out doubt the talented female athlete I have ever seen, that includes Defar and Dibaba. In my mind she is the legitimate 1500m junior record holder. Being that she is so good a cross country, can you tell me why she does not run the 5K/10K? I am assuming you know her.
Is Faith Kipyegon one of the "all" who "ran some incredible times at a young age and quickly leveled out or went backwards"?
Author: the grapes are too damn sour
Subject: RE: African Age Cheating
Message:
Translated: I want my age group ribbon!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
No; " I want my NCAA title!!!!" Obviously YOU are someone who had never run collegiately against 28-30 year old Kenyans.
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