Army Runners Dominate 10k

trueamerican wrote:

his is one of my biggest pet peeves, I understand that they are American citizens and are even serving our country, but WHY are they allowed to compete for America. It is just the idea that anyone can just gain citizenship and suddenly compete for a country. They are cutting off TRUE americans like Derrick etc from competing

Are you serving our country? Maybe the question should be whether you're a true American.

I wouldn't question the right of a serviceman to represent America in any form. These guys are what America is all about. We take the most talented people from around the world who want to be here and help make our country stronger, whether that's on the track or in professional fields.

Thems there mericans...god bless merica.

Dissapointed in "Americans" wrote:

The amount of racism and bigotry on this thread is sickening. Thinking you don't deserve something because you where born on the wrong side of a line even though you worked years for it is such a sad viewpoint to have. People like you are the reason Donald Trump and his shameful views are popular... Congrats to Kipchirchir and Korir, they more than deserve it and have earned it!

As a taxpayer, I have a right to question how tax revenues are spent. A basic expectation of mine is that those funds are used for the benefit of the American people. In this case, tax payer money was used to recruit and train foreign born athletes to compete against existing American athletes. In my opinion, this practice provides zero benefit and causes actual harm to the existing American population by denying Americans spots on the Army's WCAP and, in this case, spots on the Olympic team. There is absolutely nothing racist or bigoted about this viewpoint. Your claim to the contrary is pure projection and betrays a lack of basic reasoning skills. Bringing politics into the thread just makes you a jackass.

But perhaps a majority of people are like you and think that recruiting and training foreign athletes for our Olympic team is beneficial. If so, why are we half-assing it? Let's recruit the top 10 athletes in the world in every event, grant them US citizenship and pay to train them. We'll probably have a few hold outs no matter how much money we offer but a billion dollars should allow us to nearly sweep the medals at the next Olympics. Then we can wave our flags and gloat about how great our American boys and girls are. After all, if you can't beat 'em, buy 'em.

Zarathustra's still got it.

Buddha belly wrote:

Shame!! If they are going to join the Army to get a shortcut to citizenship I am ok with that but they should wear the uniform and do the job - not run WCAP. Dan Browne is a sellout.

I am guessing you were never in the service.

In the background of Korir's interview, you can see Kipchirchir standing at "parade rest" while he is being interviewed.

trueamerican people like you make me sick! They EARNED their citizenship by serving, while you were just lucky enough to be born here. They didn't join the Army to become Olympians, they joined the Army to serve and protect this country because they wanted to become citizens.

And Zarathustra, the amount they are being paid annually by the WAP is certainly less than the cost of a single flyover of an NFL game. In terms of publicity per $ spent it's a much better investment.

TexasNative wrote:

2nd and 3rd

And yet another 100 HS kids decided to drop out of T&F.

Nmlllmkkkn wrote:

Maybe Derrick should have joined the Army?

Am in the army, haven't qualified for a national team yet. Will continue hoping this works.

Nmlllmkkkn wrote:

Maybe Derrick should have joined the Army?

Am in the army, haven't qualified for a national team yet. Will continue hoping this works.

Taxpayer dollars? Really? You're concerned over a few thousand dollars when our government self funds the obesity epidemic in America by spending BILLIONS on soda for food stamp recipients.

These guys are everything that America was set up to be. You submit your life to the US and be willing to die for it in war and you are now a citizen. If the top 10 in the world all want to be part of the US Army and be willing to fight if Iraq for our country than I'll open my arms up wide for them. However I feel only folks coming from true economic hardship like a Kenyan would truly appreciate what opportunity they are getting.

I'm happy Kipchirchir got in. Made my picks 1/3 correct in the contest.

A point to debate: Is this an upset? Kipchirchir has never been a big name. The guy beat Mead Lagat True Jenkins and imo most significantly Estrada.

Ahh the word racism being used when someone clearly doesn't get it yet again. I would guess MOST of these comments have nothing to do with the race of these young men. Your simple minded name calling is a joke.

These guys did not come here for any reason other than the fact that they could not make their own Olympic team. No different than the numerous American athletes that are running for other countries because they are not confident they could make the US Olympic team. It has become a joke. Join the Army and run for the US. Nope, you never have to wear the uniform. You are not a real soldier. I know these guys occasionally put on the uniform for accountability purposes but they aren't cleaning their weapons out in the field like a real soldier. This is better than the illegals in our country but not much better. And for the clown that will shout racist, illegal can be a term used to describe a white person overstaying their visa. Still illegal and no less bad than coming across the Rio Grande.

I am all for chasing the American Dream like Lomong, Manzano and countless others. I'm not good with guys like Lagat with the way he did it. I'm not good with these Army guys. In the end, no one cares whether I am good with it but I do think it is wrong.

That 10000 team is weaker than a kitten on chemotherapy

RedNewt wrote:

That 10000 team is weaker than a kitten on chemotherapy

Screw you! Mittens is strong! She's a fighter!!

So, if I understand this right, people who *choose* to be Americans are somehow lesser than people whose only accomplishment is that they were born.

Let's be honest. He means white people. If these were 2 immigrants from the Netherlands or the UK everyone would be fine with it. The closet racism in this country is astounding.

People sayin' that Browne is a sell-out and that these guys don't 'deserve' to run for USA are idiots. They are US citizens, serving in the Army for cryin' out loud - which means they have probably already done more for our country in terms of civic duty than most hackers on this board. I think its brilliant - and would love to see the WCAP program GROW (let's get Chez in a uniform!). Also love that Rupp beat them, and hope that this program lights a fire under 'natural born' USA citizens in the near future.

Somehow, none of you guys seem to get that these guys are there for ADVERTISING. It should be obvious! Why does Nike, Adidas, or anyone else pay a guy to train and race? The Army is the same way.

The WCAP is one of many advertising tools that the US military spends money on. Haven't you seen the Army and Navy television commercials? The tributes to the military at sporting events? Theses things are ubiquitous. When you see those WCAP guys running, you are supposed to think, "Wow, I could be in the Army AND be a badass Olympian! That's awesome!"

Also, it's not like the U.S. military is snooping around overseas trying to poach top athletes. These two guys were already here in the States, wanted to become citizens, and saw the WCAP as a great opportunity to do that while competing. If the top U.S.-born guys aren't interested in the WCAP program, that's their own business.

I have no problem supporting these legal, hard working, civic minded, naturalized citizens to represent our country on an international stage. They represent the melting pot that is our country.

Plus, these two guys tough enough to handle the heat. The rest of the Americans with much faster PRs straight up blew it. 82 degrees with low humidity is not that hot.