Diego Estrada, takes advantage of USA support, and runs for...Mexico?

Agreed wrote:

...It's racist stuff like this that really bugs me:

Here is the only answer wrote:

Wake me up when he starts beating Derrick.

I know that morons like you lack the intellectual capacity to note the difference between racism and anti-moronism. Still I try to hold out hope for you.

Here's a way for you to begin to build up the requisite mental faculties. Go to the grocery store. See if you can find the oranges. If someone approaches you with an elephant and asks if this is what you are looking for try to see if you can discern any differences between said elephant and your typical orange. Try really, really hard.

Do you understand the difference between an elephant and an orange? If so, congratulations, you should have more than enough going on upstairs to understand the difference between racism and anti-moronism. If not, well just keep working on it whenever you go to the grocery store.

JLR wrote:

What a great guy Diego Estrada seems to be! I only wish the racism & xenophobia that is so common in America & on this messageboard didn't make him feel the need to apologize profusely throughout the video! There is no shame in being both Mexican and American - he should be proud of his dual heritage & citizenship. Best of luck to him running under the flag of his birth & the country of his parents & grandparents. I would welcome him back with open arms should he qualify in future to represent the stars & stripes.

Well said.

I'd run for Mexico internationally from now on.

They obviously appreciate him more there than in the U.S.

The difference is Kipketer had an issue with the way the Kenyans picked Olympic teams, still an issue today. He went to Denmark and as I recall he immediately became a citizen. He was not allowed to compete for Denmark, right away. He sat out because he was upset with the Kenyan Olympic governing body.

Diego on the other has had to wait for years to become a citizen. He followed the rules then is told, uhh you can't compete for us just yet.

I say good for him. He can gain experience this Olympic year and then be ready represent the USA in 2016.

he said it right wrote:

JLR wrote:

What a great guy Diego Estrada seems to be! I only wish the racism & xenophobia that is so common in America & on this messageboard didn't make him feel the need to apologize profusely throughout the video! There is no shame in being both Mexican and American - he should be proud of his dual heritage & citizenship. Best of luck to him running under the flag of his birth & the country of his parents & grandparents. I would welcome him back with open arms should he qualify in future to represent the stars & stripes.

Well said.

I second that. Great post, it's exactly how I feel too. I will be rooting for him in London. Go Diego, way to follow your dreams. You inspire me with your story!!

I like Diego... wrote:

he said it right wrote:

Well said.

I second that. Great post, it's exactly how I feel too. I will be rooting for him in London. Go Diego, way to follow your dreams. You inspire me with your story!!

I third that. Well said indeed.

numiler22 wrote:

Bernard Lagat was not a citizen when he competed for Kenya. He was in the process. He become a citizen after the trials which meant he couldn't run the US trials and run for the US at the time. It was all timing.

You're first sentence is wrong. He was a US citizen when he competed for Kenya.

There's a big difference with Lagat that I don't think has been noted yet. Kenya doesn't allow dual citizenship. The minute he became a US citizen he was no longer a citizen of Kenya. So he was a non-Kenyan at the 2004 Olympics. He covered up the fact that he was a US citizen so he could compete. Athletics Kenya never would have let him compete if they had known. You can argue that someone else in his shoes would have done the same thing, but that doesn't make it right.

So since Estrada presumably has dual citizenship, his case is not analogous to Lagat's.

As a capitalist, don't you think Estrada (like everyone else) should do everything within the law to maximize his earnings?

Kipketer didn't compete for Kenya in 1996 because it would have reset his clock with Denmark. Estrada isn't under the same time constraint, because if he runs for Mexico in London, he'll be eligible to compete for the US in time for Rio.

It's up to Kenya to revoke the citizenship. They could have asked the IOC disqualify him from the Athens results, but they didn't. It was their call.

Jeff Wigand wrote:

As a capitalist, don't you think Estrada (like everyone else) should do everything within the law to maximize his earnings?

No. I think that he should feel free to do everything within the law to maximize his earnings.

I do not think that most people (even good capitalists) organize their lives exclusively to maximize their earnings (though they should feel free to do so if that's what floats their boat).

Censor me when I call you out on your overt racism and xenophobia. Real mature, Rojo, real mature.

Here is the only answer wrote:

I like Diego... wrote:

I second that. Great post, it's exactly how I feel too. I will be rooting for him in London. Go Diego, way to follow your dreams. You inspire me with your story!!

I third that. Well said indeed.

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I am going to assume you guys are in the 5th grade or perhaps you are joking. The Olympics is all about nationalism, in fact, besides war, it is the most nationalistic thing on the planet. During the opening ceremony you march in by country, led by your flag; when an athlete’s wins, one of the first things they do is look for a flag, when you are on the stands they play your nation’s anthem and raise your flag, when you compete, the name of your country is on your vest, when the IOC reports stats, it broken down by country and all athletes are referred by the nation’s team. “Racism & xenophobia” has nothing to do with it, it is a tremendous source of pride to represent your country. Representing your country is a manifestation of your allegiance, it is a way to say thanks to the country that has natured and supported you in your growth and development. I can understand the emotional attachment to your heritage and your place of birth, but to the best of my knowledge, Diego left Mexico as a child, which probably means Mexico has plays no part in getting him to where he is today. In the USA, people know Diego, he has fans; I imagine very few Mexicans know who Diego is, what events he runs, how he runs and what is performance marks are and yet, this is the country he will represent.

With that said, I don’t know what’s in Diego’s heart, but I hope his decision is based on more than wanting to have an Olympic experience.

****************************************************

You guys are idiots. I'm tired of this. The USA has trained so many Olympian for other countries.

Over the last fourty years how many times at the WS and Olympics have sprinters, jumpers, runners lined up for a country and then the announcer says from the University of pick your choice.

Some becomes citizens others do not. Yet they live here, train here,yet do not represtent the USA.

Case in point the three Candians that were in Diego's race. All train in the USA and are going to represent Canada in London. Where is the b*tching about them.

With all the injuries that distance runners have you have to take the road that leads to your dreams.

Diego is no different from all the past and present runners that use the USA to help them get to the Olympics for other countries.

Oaxaca expat wrote:

As an aside, it is interesting to me that there are not more world class Mexican distance runners. The great central highland plain that stretches from Guadalajara to Mexico City, where most Mexicans live, averages over a mile in altitude...I think the talent is there...

I'll keep an eye on Diego. Best wishes for a good Olympics.

But when push comes to shove, I'm pulling for Rupp. And Mo!

I wonder the same thing! Come on Mexico, produce more runners.

Estrada - rule-technicalities aside, compete for Mexico if you want to; a lot can happen in four years.

Canadians, Mexicans, US'ers. I'm rooting for all if it means putting another North American on the line against the Evil East Empire.

You do not have to be a citizen of a country to compete for them in the Olympics. The requirements are citizenship, being born there, or having parents or grandparents from that country. Diego could have been a second generation American and he still would be allowed to compete for Mexico.

Now that that is said live the dream and KICK SOME ASS DIEGO!!!!!

Bernard Estrada?

US citizenship rules and IAAF rules are different, which is what Bernard got caught up in and why his 3:29 is not the AR. May Diego be the second US citizen to win a medal for another nation.

That may have been all well and good in the amateur era but these are professionals we're talking about. Competing or not competing in the Olympic Games is worth serious money to a track and field athlete. It's his job to run in the Olympics.

TrackCoach wrote:

I don’t know what’s in Diego’s heart, but I hope his decision is based on more than wanting to have an Olympic experience.

Huh? Like what, for instance?

Good for you, Diego! Have fun and run well!

Diego made the right choice under the circumstances. I would have done the same thing and not lost any sleep over it. It's the best desicion for him personally and financially. What is he supposed to do for the next 4 years? camp out? what if he got injured and his carreer ended. He would have kicked himself the rest of his life wondering what might have been. He has the opportunity NOW to achieve the dream of basically every athlete out there. He'd be a fool not to grab it. He is living a dream. I wish I was in his shoes. So jelous of him. Wish him the best and will 100% support him. Go Diego, you're an inspirtation.