Lagat a US Citizen

yes he can.

good article here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/athletics/4440823.stm

kenya athletics can enforce a 3 year ban, meaning lagat should be free and clear for the next olympics.

ok. what is wrong with kenyan athletics? what are they doing wrong?

nothing wrong, necessarily, but it is quite a hassle to live in the US and travel as much as he does on a Kenyan passport. could be just convenience. it could also be that he just wants his paperwork to reflect that he has adopted a new country. I've lived in the US since 1998 and many things would be easier if I got citizenship. If it weren't for W and the many morons who support him I would have probably applied already. As it is I prefer my EU citizenship and the easy way out if things continue to get worse.

OK...no more bitching about Qatar on this website.

And for the last poster, if you apply and get US citizenship you still keep your EU passport and citizenship.

Ex-patriot wrote:

And for the last poster, if you apply and get US citizenship you still keep your EU passport and citizenship.

No I don't. I'm a Danish citizen and Denmark doesn't recognize dual citizenship. If I obtain US citizenship they revoke my Danish one. It's been suggested that I just don't tell them about it...

Unlucky for you...I now have 3 pasports :-), 2 EU, 1 US. Its illegal however to travel with more than one.

Ex-patriot wrote:

OK...no more bitching about Qatar on this website.

Colossal difference.

Yes colossal indeed.

The US team will be comprised of Eritreans, Moroccans, Somalians and Kenyans, whereas the Qatari team will be comprised of all Kenyans.

Lagat is here to make more money, the Kenyans in Qatar are there to make more money. Whats the colossal difference?

The next thing is you are not going to see Abdi, Meb and Khalid as true blue americans.

wow wrote:

ok. what is wrong with kenyan athletics? what are they doing wrong?

they keep screwing over their athletes. look at that world xc training camp debacle for only the most recent example. look at how no one knows how to qualify for an international team. look at how the federation plays favorites. the federation simply wants to control the athletes and not do what is best for the athletes. i'd try to get the hell out of there, too.

Uhh... the colossal difference is that the U.S. didn't pay to pick up Lagat like some free agent. What occured here is nothing like the Qatar/Kenya mess. None of the Qataris went to Qatar for school and then trained here for a decade. Your comparison is terrible.

1) The US is not actively recruiting and/or compensating these athletes

2) These athletes spend the large majority of their year in the US and, with the exception of KK, came up through the US high school and/or college system

3) Again, with the exception of KK, these athletes did not go through any kind of "express" citizenship process. They became US citizens in the same way that any other legal immigrant would.

it's not just money -- his wife is American, he's lived here for almost ten years, went to school here. I can't fault him for that.

he lives in america

he went to school in america

he trains in america

he gets his EPO in america

enough said

With the current Balco bust and the Hellybucks exposed, there were some openings in the U.S. for a couple of drug cheats.

KevinM wrote:

2) These athletes spend the large majority of their year in the US and, with the exception of KK, came up through the US high school and/or college system

.

Kevin I see that you got your bedroom clean and mommy let you play with the computer again.

Help me out with these athletes. Where did they go to high school?

Maree?

Plaatjes?

Abdi?

Hussein?

The fact that the USA bought them for the college system is irrelevant.

Aside from not going to high school or college here, KK is almost the perfect example of an athlete rising through the "American" athletics system.

He was a good, but unestablished athlete when he first came to the US. After he get here he worked some ccrappy jobs, and trained on his own--no national system, no great club system, no famous coaches. It was only after he'd been here for a while that he really started making waves on the world level running (roads) scene.

I'm not saying this is nessecarily the best system (probably not), but just that KK was not a superstar before he became a US RESIDENT (not citizen).

Of course, Lagat wasn't a superstar before coming to WSU either, but he has had a fair bit of support from the Kenyan Federation (if you can discribe what they give as support).

Do I know you?

By the way, Abdi went to Tuscon High School, class of 1995. My mom just told me that.