Lagat a US Citizen

egads wrote:

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.

egads, let me tell you a not-so-big secret. Knocking the sitting president and anyone who voted for him is silly. You are pretty young, or not truly observant enough to see that the US is made up of people whose culture is two sides of the same coin.

If you are the former (young), then you will see it some day. If you are the latter, then please don't apply for citizenship, since according to you, we have enough morons already.

chuck,

he was getting taxed big time by the Kenyan Gov't and then again by the US Gov't, being a perm. resident and working for a US company.

Now he has one of them off his back.

I'm just sayin...

The hypocrisy on this board is incredible. Abdi (as was already mentioned) went to high school in the US. Regardless of whether Hussein went to high school here or not he has done more than enough to earn the right to call himself an "American" if that is his choice. He's a role model and leader in the sport for people here and in Kenya. He has paid his dues in this country as well. In fact, if people should be mad at anyone it is corporations like Nike. They DO pay more to American athletes than foreign athletes and that often forces the hand of an upcoming runner to swith his allegiances to the USA. Note: I don't think this is the case with Bernard Lagat or Hussein because they are both very well established already. If Nike was more willing to embrace the notion of a universal running culture and promote foreign athletes then broke runners would not have to factor economics into their running decisions. It's about time that some people on this board revise their notion of what it means to be an "American". I believe that a person should be allowed to have more than one country in their heart (ie. Meb with his Eritrean flag at the Olympic Trials)without other people feeling threatened by their joint-heritage.

trackhead wrote:

chuck,

he was getting taxed big time by the Kenyan Gov't and then again by the US Gov't, being a perm. resident and working for a US company.

Now he has one of them off his back.

unless you have some inside information on that, i think that point is quite debatable. lagat gets paid enough to be able to pay for some decent tax planning, which avoids much - if not all - of the costs you mention. i don't know all that much about Kenyan tax law, but my understanding of it is that if he resides in another country (which he does), he won't pay taxes on his earnings in kenya. i know there are other fees and such associated with their federation, but i rather doubt it's because of taxes - or any other financial concern - that he became a citizen.

also, being a US citizen might actually complicate his tax situation. people usually don't become US citizens to decrease their tax burden; on the contrary, it's usually people becoming citizens of other countries to decrease their tax burden.

If he had done this two weeks ago there'd be a new AR in the mile. Scott's 3:51 is still the record for now, but maybe next year it won't be.

I am extremely happy to hear this news. I've met Bernard before and he seems to be a really good guy. Good for him.

Rosie Ruiz wrote:

Knocking the sitting president and anyone who voted for him is silly. . blah.

"Sitting president" is an apt description. He sat on his fat ass in Crawford for a full month while the intelligence community had its "hair on fire" in the days before 9/11.

Just think how much damage he could do if he actually did something between election campaigns to earn his $400K/year.

westside wrote:

Now that Lagat is a US Citizen can he run for America in the next olympics??

I had to verify that today wasn't April fools day.

It is disheartening but Lagat should do what he feels is best for him. All the best for him. Heis great, humble and spruce.

I wish him well and certainly, our American friends. May he be of much value to your country as he was to ours.

Sleeping Beauty, Tom Thumb, and Quasimodo were all talking one day. Sleeping Beauty said, "I believe myself to be the most beautiful girl in the world." Tom Thumb said, "I must be the smallest person in the world." Quasimodo said, "I absolutely have to be the ugliest person in the world."

They decided to go to the Guinness Book of World Records Headquarters to have their claims verified.

Sleeping Beauty went first & came out looking deliriously happy : "It's official - I am the most beautiful girl in the world".

Tom Thumb went next and emerged triumphant, "I am officially the smallest person in the world".

Sometime later, Quasimodo came out looking confused & upset and said ............... "Who the hell is Camilla Parker Bowles?"

I'm pretty sure that he was getting it on both ends -- taxed on his earnings as a Kenyan citizen and then again as a permenant resident of the US working for a US firm.

egads wrote:

If it weren't for W and the many morons who support him I would have probably applied already.

Egad,

this is one of the best things I have heard today-April 13 '05.

Sorry, I posted the wrong thing. that was an internet joke that I sent to my sister. i intended to post a link from Kenya's leading newspaper- Daily Nation. It is about Lagat.

My apologies.

SPORTS

Kenya's Lagat becomes US citizen

Story by PETER NJENGA

Publication Date: 4/14/2005

Bernard Lagat has become the latest athlete to denounce his Kenyan citizenship.

Lagat has become an American citizen, but will not be ineligible to represent his adopted country at this year's world athletics championships.

Said Lagat in a press statement sent from his home in Tuscon, Arizona: "I thought long and hard before changing my nationality but, at the age of 30, I have to look to my future, after my running career has come to an end."

He also sent a copy of the statement to Athletics Kenya.

The AK chairman, Isaiah Kiplagat, said it was upon the American athletics federation to request the local association to release Lagat.

In absence of this, he will only be free to represent the US in an IAAF-sanctioned event after three years.

Lagat, twice medallist at the Olympics in the 1,500 metres, changed his affiliation on March 29. He has lived in the United States since 1996 when got an athletics scholarship.

"I graduated from Washington State University and the United States has been my permanent home for almost a decade, and it is where I envisage living in the years to come.

"I hope to continue running at the very highest level until at least the 2008 Olympics. In the short term, I realise that changing my nationality makes me ineligible to compete at the 2005 World Championships, but I look forward to trying to run as fast as possible in other meetings this summer, with the aim of inspiring and uplifting Kenyan and American athletics fans alike.

"The decision to change my nationality was not one I took lightly as I am very proud of my Kenyan heritage," he said.