Why is there a 19 year old in the Footlocker Championships this year?

I believe it's not the first time a 19year old has competed at Footlocker, actually.

22 year old Verzbikas was allowed to slaughter 14 year olds at Footlocker a few years ago.

IAAF allows bullshit "junior records" to be set by 30 year olds.

No rules in T&F.

Regardless that it was done before, 19 is definitely too old for high school.

A good rule would be that anyone who turns 19 by the beginning of a high school athletic competition, is not eligible to compete in it.

Who the helll are you talking about?

There was a 24 year old in it once. I think 25 is the cut-off

Turtle Souper Duper wrote:

Who the helll are you talking about?

The girl from Africa who is the favorite to win.

There is an amendment to the rules that Africans can compete up to the age of 24 or 25

Nothing compared to Grampa Ches competing as a 28-year-old

J.R. wrote:

Regardless that it was done before, 19 is definitely too old for high school.

A good rule would be that anyone who turns 19 by the beginning of a high school athletic competition, is not eligible to compete in it.

She was 18 for all year in state competition. She will be 19 for a grand total of 12 days at FL. Are you saying she should be 18 until graduation?

Jeff Albertson wrote:

J.R. wrote:

Regardless that it was done before, 19 is definitely too old for high school.

A good rule would be that anyone who turns 19 by the beginning of a high school athletic competition, is not eligible to compete in it.

She was 18 for all year in state competition. She will be 19 for a grand total of 12 days at FL. Are you saying she should be 18 until graduation?

Yes this is my opinion. It's not fair for a 19 year old to compete against 17 and 18 year old seniors. That's why they have age groups in your local 5k.

For boys, being 19 has a greater positive impact than for girls. Many young girls do very well at FL. Boys typically only get better with age and well into their 20's so a 19 year old boy versus a 17 year old boy has a great advantage.

Dear valued guest wrote:

For boys, being 19 has a greater positive impact than for girls. Many young girls do very well at FL. Boys typically only get better with age and well into their 20's so a 19 year old boy versus a 17 year old boy has a great advantage.

Andrew Hunter is 18. Wonder how many boys are 17? The majority I would guess.

80s kid wrote:

High school seniors graduate at 17 or 18 years old. 19 year olds are freshmen or sophomores in college. Isn't it unfair for a 19 year old to compete against these younger kids?

False. Highschoolers graduate at all three ages - 17, 18, and 19. The vast majority at 18. No, it is not unfair. Age is irrelevant. How long they've been training is what matters.

80s kid wrote:

[ That's why they have age groups in your local 5k.

Yes, typically 15-19. What's your point?

Uhhff wrote:

How long they've been training is what matters.

I mostly agree with this.

age doesnt matter, physical development and length of training is what matters. Now being older gives you the chance to have more time to physically mature but its not always the case for every person.

I graduated high school at 18 like most people do but was probably at the same development stage of most 16 year olds. If one kid goes through puberty early and graduates at 17 vs a kid who goes through puberty late (hitting full development in his 20s) who graduates at 19, the 17 year old is going to win in a race and has the advantage over the 19 year old(assuming everything else is equal ie talent, training, motivation).

People get so hung up on 19 year olds when it is an increasingly common trend in America for kids to turn 19 during their senior year of high school. As long as their not a 5th year senior im fine with them. They had 4 years of high school training just like everyone else to hit the best times that they could. so be it.

Today, most seniors are already 18 at the beginning of the school year. This is because parents red-shirt their kids to give them an advantage. When I was a kid, parents wanted their smart kid to skip a grade. Now they want them to be the oldest in the class.

At any rate, she is only a year older (if that) than most seniors.

Ritz ran at Footlocker, and he's 32 years old!

"People get so hung up on 19 year olds when it is an increasingly common trend in America for kids to turn 19 during their senior year of high school. As long as their not a 5th year senior im fine with them. They had 4 years of high school training just like everyone else to hit the best times that they could. so be it."

Do you have a link that shows it is increasingly common?

When I started school in the early 70s my district had two tracks for elementary school. The major track was for about 2/3 of the students and they graduated at 17 or 18 and the minor track for about 1/3 of the students had them graduating at 18 or 19. I would guess that about 30% of my class was 18 years and 8 months or more old and 5% were 19.

This made sense in our rural area because there was no preschool and maybe half went to kindergarten so first grade was about socialization and getting kids to know their alphabet and to count past 10. These days everyone has kindergarten and they learn our first grade material in preschool.

I guess it could be that today's 19 year old graduates are a response to the earlier efforts to get everyone to graduate at 17 but do you have a link?