Most interesting thing to me is Teshome Mekonen is now a US citizen. He ran 60:02 back in 2018. He was 3rd at NYC half this year and has only run 2:13 in the marathon but would seem to a guy automatically on paper has a change to make an Olympic team or even challenge Ryan Hall's half marathon record.
Desisa is a household name in Boston. Molly Seidel leads the Americans with Molly Huddle but they'll have their hands full with Vicoty Chepngeno who the US all-comers record. Teshome Mekonen is a new US citizen and headlines...
You should only count as American runner if born and lived here till adult age. That way this toxic culture will make you slower no matter what genetics you have
You should only count as American runner if born and lived here till adult age. That way this toxic culture will make you slower no matter what genetics you have
So if a runner was born in a foreign country because his or her parent was in the foreign service, and spent most or his her years living outside the US because of the parent's postings, you wouldn't consider the person an "American runner"?
You should only count as American runner if born and lived here till adult age. That way this toxic culture will make you slower no matter what genetics you have
On one hand, I really like the idea that anyone from anywhere can come to the US and integrate into our culture. No one thinks you're not American because of your skin color or your accent. On the other hand, it kinda feels like cheating when we take the best runners in the world and let them compete for us. Like, it's not that impressive that Lagat set national records when he already ran 3:26 before coming to the US. Still, I feel bad saying it shouldn't count because if I didn't know who he was and I had a conversation with him, I'd never consider him not American.
I also think someone like Luis Grivalja should absolutely be competing for the US, and he should count for national records. He's undoubtedly fully integrated into our culture, and he exemplifies the American Dream: the idea that it doesn't matter who you are or where you came from, if you work hard enough, you can make a name for yourself and be successful. When he came 4th at Worlds, it felt like a different kind of cheating. One where even though he's worked hard for his whole life in the US, gone through 20 years of US schooling, and continues to live and train here, we don't let him represent us internationally.
Basically, if we redraw lines to people who were born as US citizens, I think we get into a really weird territory. Kenya didn't allow dual citizenship until 2010, so if only those born as US citizens can get records, what do we do about Lagat's double gold in 2007? It doesn't make sense to me that someone can win championships for our country but not set records for us, and it can't be for Kenya because he wasn't a citizen there. Or do we allow medals but not records? So people can win national titles and world medals for us but they can't set national records? If you wanna talk about confusing, how about a scenario where Lagat and Ritz go 1-2 at the Olympics, both under the old 5k record. Then the announcer has to explain that Ritz holds the AR, even though he got beaten by Lagat, who just won gold for the USA. I guess we could just not let Lagat compete for the USA at all, but then you have one of the greatest runners ever unable to compete outside of one-off track meets.
You should only count as American runner if born and lived here till adult age. That way this toxic culture will make you slower no matter what genetics you have
So if a runner was born in a foreign country because his or her parent was in the foreign service, and spent most or his her years living outside the US because of the parent's postings, you wouldn't consider the person an "American runner"?
By the way, Frank Shorter was born in Germany.
In order to qualify as a US runner, you need to be a citizen and at least 99% of the water you consumed before the age of 20 needs to have come from the north american water shed. So Grant Fisher counts since he was raised in Canada before coming here (unless his parents were really into giving him Fiji water or something). Salazar may also count, you'd probably need to check with a geologist
Awesome, another dude who never lived here and nobody has ever heard of before, potentially taking spots from people who grew up and were trained here. I don't care what you look like or where you were born- my only criteria for who can represent America is that they came up through our training system (4 years of American High school). You don't see people on these boards taking issue with Lopez making teams; in fact I'd wager that most people are big fans of him. I know guys who raced him as teenagers in upstate NY. Switching allegiance at age 27 is absurd.
Most interesting thing to me is Teshome Mekonen is now a US citizen. He ran 60:02 back in 2018. He was 3rd at NYC half this year and has only run 2:13 in the marathon but would seem to a guy automatically on paper has a change to make an Olympic team or even challenge Ryan Hall's half marathon record.
means nothing. some usa born athletes are running for other countries because one of their parents happened to be born there. there's no gty that Mekonen will run for the USA
You seem unaware of how people become naturalized citizens. He had to get a green card which takes 6-33 months. Then he had to reside in the US continuously for least 5 more years before he qualified. Based on his racing history on World Athletics, he hasn't raced in Ethiopia since 2015, and has raced mainly in the US since 2015. Maybe he got a green card as an asylum seeker? He's lived the last quarter of his life in the US.
You should only count as American runner if born and lived here till adult age. That way this toxic culture will make you slower no matter what genetics you have
On one hand, I really like the idea that anyone from anywhere can come to the US and integrate into our culture. No one thinks you're not American because of your skin color or your accent. On the other hand, it kinda feels like cheating when we take the best runners in the world and let them compete for us. Like, it's not that impressive that Lagat set national records when he already ran 3:26 before coming to the US. Still, I feel bad saying it shouldn't count because if I didn't know who he was and I had a conversation with him, I'd never consider him not American.
I also think someone like Luis Grivalja should absolutely be competing for the US, and he should count for national records. He's undoubtedly fully integrated into our culture, and he exemplifies the American Dream: the idea that it doesn't matter who you are or where you came from, if you work hard enough, you can make a name for yourself and be successful. When he came 4th at Worlds, it felt like a different kind of cheating. One where even though he's worked hard for his whole life in the US, gone through 20 years of US schooling, and continues to live and train here, we don't let him represent us internationally.
Basically, if we redraw lines to people who were born as US citizens, I think we get into a really weird territory. Kenya didn't allow dual citizenship until 2010, so if only those born as US citizens can get records, what do we do about Lagat's double gold in 2007? It doesn't make sense to me that someone can win championships for our country but not set records for us, and it can't be for Kenya because he wasn't a citizen there. Or do we allow medals but not records? So people can win national titles and world medals for us but they can't set national records? If you wanna talk about confusing, how about a scenario where Lagat and Ritz go 1-2 at the Olympics, both under the old 5k record. Then the announcer has to explain that Ritz holds the AR, even though he got beaten by Lagat, who just won gold for the USA. I guess we could just not let Lagat compete for the USA at all, but then you have one of the greatest runners ever unable to compete outside of one-off track meets.
